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Over the course of two albums, Dom Thomas and his Whyte Horses collective made a name for themselves as master mixers of vintage sounds derived from swinging French ye-ye, swirling psychedelia, strutting big-city soul, snappy garage rock, and hooky kitchen sink pop. It's a little bit of theft, a little bit of borrowing too, but Thomas and his merry gang reassemble the pieces in ways that make clear they are adding great dollops of their own vision to the music. Hard Times does away with any trainspotting and lays their influences on the table with a selection of covers that range from familiar (Cher's "Bang Bang [My Baby Shot Me Down]," Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light") to classic (Lou Reed's “Satellite of Love," Plastic Bertrand's "Ça Plane Pour Moi"), to quite obscure ("Seabird" by the Alessi Brothers, "Toycn" by Welsh prog band Brân). Unlike their first two records, where the singers (apart from La Roux) flew mostly under the radar, they are joined by a more prominent batch of vocalists including Tracyanne Campbell, Gruff Rhys, Badly Drawn Boy, and John Grant. Most often, the choice of singer, song, and sound results in pleasant nostalgia. Melanie Pain's sweet croon fits the group's smooth backing on "I Saw the Light" and Chrysta Bell belts out a dramatic take on "Bang Bang," while in-house vocalists Lucy Styles and Natalie McCool do a fine job on a number of songs, most notably a version of Phil Cordell's "Red Lady," a glimmering slice of late-'60s psych pop given the full Whyte Horses treatment. Sometimes, the pairing of singer and song is close to perfect. La Roux delivers an aching take on the underrated Bee Gees song "Mr Natural" as the band make like a classic soul group, while Tracyanne Campbell exudes seven shades of melancholy on the dreamlike psych pop ballad "Up in My Mind." Gruff Rhys sings like he has a giant smile plastered across his mug on the rollicking take of "Tocyn" that serves as the album's most energetic track and pushes away some pleasant haze that settles over the rest of it. Therein lies the main problem with the album: it is a little too restrained and reverent to truly be anything more than a nice diversion. Listening to it back to back with one of their own albums, it's hard to see why Thomas decided he had to make Hard Times at all when their work already sounds like the "fantasy mixtape" they were aiming for here. It's far from a bad record, but it's a bit of a letdown for anyone who fell in love with the group's first two albums and looked forward to hearing them dig deep into their influences and come up with something special.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo
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Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Phil Cordell, ComposerLyricist - Natalie McCool, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Robin Hugh Gibb, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - BARRY ALAN GIBB, ComposerLyricist - Dan Cox, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Elly Jackson, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Jim Homes, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - La Roux, Vocalist, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Natalie McCool, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
John Grant, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Curtis Mayfield, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Mario Leal, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Dominic Thomas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Lou De Pryck, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Andy Parkin, Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Tim Parkin, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Yves Maurice A. Lacomblez, ComposerLyricist - Dom Thomas, Producer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jez Grey, Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Alexander Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
SONNY BONO, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Owen Roberts, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Chrysta Bell, Vocals, Vocalist, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Benjamin Farley, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Bobby Alessi, ComposerLyricist - Billy Alessi, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Synthesizer Programming, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Synthesizer Programming, AssociatedPerformer - Natalie McCool, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Keyboards, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Lou Reed, ComposerLyricist - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Badly Drawn Boy, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Gethin Pearson, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Damon Gough, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Dominic Thomas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Todd Rundgren, ComposerLyricist - Dave Pemberton, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Melanie Pain, Vocals, Vocal Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Whyte Horses, Producer, MainArtist - Julie Margat, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dom Thomas, Producer, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2018 CRC Records
Paul Savage, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Abner Spector, ComposerLyricist - Tracyanne Campbell, Vocals, Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - B Simms, ComposerLyricist - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Gruff Rhys, Vocals, Vocalist, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Natalie McCool, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Kris Jenkins, Vocal Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Gwyn, ComposerLyricist - Gwyndaf Roberts, ComposerLyricist - Owen Matthews, Drums, Glass Harmonica, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Tim Debney, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jim Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Rob Homes, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Jon Stockllin, ComposerLyricist - Natalie McCool, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Laura Shea, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Boe Weaver, Producer, Mixer, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lucy Styles, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Whyte Horses, MainArtist - Dom Thomas, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Owen Matthews, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ali Moretti, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2019 CRC Records
Album review
Over the course of two albums, Dom Thomas and his Whyte Horses collective made a name for themselves as master mixers of vintage sounds derived from swinging French ye-ye, swirling psychedelia, strutting big-city soul, snappy garage rock, and hooky kitchen sink pop. It's a little bit of theft, a little bit of borrowing too, but Thomas and his merry gang reassemble the pieces in ways that make clear they are adding great dollops of their own vision to the music. Hard Times does away with any trainspotting and lays their influences on the table with a selection of covers that range from familiar (Cher's "Bang Bang [My Baby Shot Me Down]," Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light") to classic (Lou Reed's “Satellite of Love," Plastic Bertrand's "Ça Plane Pour Moi"), to quite obscure ("Seabird" by the Alessi Brothers, "Toycn" by Welsh prog band Brân). Unlike their first two records, where the singers (apart from La Roux) flew mostly under the radar, they are joined by a more prominent batch of vocalists including Tracyanne Campbell, Gruff Rhys, Badly Drawn Boy, and John Grant. Most often, the choice of singer, song, and sound results in pleasant nostalgia. Melanie Pain's sweet croon fits the group's smooth backing on "I Saw the Light" and Chrysta Bell belts out a dramatic take on "Bang Bang," while in-house vocalists Lucy Styles and Natalie McCool do a fine job on a number of songs, most notably a version of Phil Cordell's "Red Lady," a glimmering slice of late-'60s psych pop given the full Whyte Horses treatment. Sometimes, the pairing of singer and song is close to perfect. La Roux delivers an aching take on the underrated Bee Gees song "Mr Natural" as the band make like a classic soul group, while Tracyanne Campbell exudes seven shades of melancholy on the dreamlike psych pop ballad "Up in My Mind." Gruff Rhys sings like he has a giant smile plastered across his mug on the rollicking take of "Tocyn" that serves as the album's most energetic track and pushes away some pleasant haze that settles over the rest of it. Therein lies the main problem with the album: it is a little too restrained and reverent to truly be anything more than a nice diversion. Listening to it back to back with one of their own albums, it's hard to see why Thomas decided he had to make Hard Times at all when their work already sounds like the "fantasy mixtape" they were aiming for here. It's far from a bad record, but it's a bit of a letdown for anyone who fell in love with the group's first two albums and looked forward to hearing them dig deep into their influences and come up with something special.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:34:39
- Main artists: Whyte Horses
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: CRC Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
© 2020 CRC Records ℗ 2020 CRC Records
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