Graham McCullough
Simple Songs of Love and Life
Starting with the positives, this is a record produced to the highest standards. The crystal clear guitars seep through the speakers like warm water – and this highlights the best element of Graham McCullough’s music.
Outside of the beautifully plucked tunes, we face the soppiest lyrics penned outside of the clinic for the hormonally unbalanced. We move from the Des’Re-esque ‘drink… brink… think’ and ‘smart… start… heart’ of ‘Ain’t Love Cruel’ and ‘Could She Be The Answer?’ to the awkward up-tempo ‘My Days My Days’.
‘The Wedding Song’ is interesting for its uber-forlorn lyrics, which leads perfectly into the equally downtrodden ‘Most of the Time’.
Sonically, this lies between ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ and ‘that infamous piano bit’ in ‘A Day In The Life’ with the odd bit of folk-country combined with Graham’s sombre guitars and knuckle-biting lyrics.
The final straw for me was the line ‘… some tea, some toast, some coffee or something of that ilk, but then I realised I was out of milk’ from ‘The Croissant Song’.
With the right songwriting partner to supply the lyrics, Graham’s excellent guitar-playing skills would really shine. As it is, what we have is Jimmy Page without a Robert Plant to bounce off.
Written by Fenton on
