Built around singer/guitarist Neil Diment's well-crafted songs, Scots' trio THE WATERSHED are peddling enjoyably mature rock/pop of the old-fasioned kind on this largely enjoyable, eponymously-titled album.
Opening track and an immediate favourite "Going Nowhere?" is typical of what they're about. It's semi-acoustic, anthemic gear, a little like Travis or a slightly toned-down Oasis. Hardly revolutionary, but heartfelt and good enough to impinge on your consciousness.
They pull off equally effective tricks on tunes like "Hopeless Situation" (where Diment's vocals are particularly charismatic) and the punchy "Invincible", where the song bursts into impressive life via evocative piano and Neil's spidery lead guitar after a soppy opening. These are decent, memorable tracks, as are "Nirvana On My Mind" and the (no, don't run away) big piano ballad "No Way". On both of these, The Watershed are a Scottish Dodgy in all but name, but that's actually nothing to be ashamed of, and when the horn section lifts "No Way", it's surprisingly satisfying.
A couple of tunes don't quite make the cut. "That's Alright", for instance, is very much Diment in heart-on-sleeve mode, which is admirable, but a bit too gushing for comfort, while the closing "High Wire" strives a tad too hard for 'epic' status. It appears to deal with life on the lower rungs of this scummy business and your reviewer's fine about that, but not so prepared to condone the overblown, Dave Gilmour-style soloing at the tail end. Much better - and far more evocative - is the fragile'n'attractive finger picking of the gentle "Hidden Meaning" where Neil and co easily hold your attention without ever threatening to raise the roof.
|
Still, while The Watershed's post-Britpop songwriting might sit a little uneasily in the current climate, their proficiency and their way with a well-turned chorus is irrefutable, and as the wise sage said, good songs can never be entirely be written off. Besides, it's hard to deny a man who suggests you should "sing along unless you're crap" in his self-deprecatory sleevenotes, isn't it?
|
