It’s always pleasing when you see a band you’ve rated for a while progress when they release a new set of songs. When The Simpletone put out ‘Dark Matter’ a couple of years ago it deserved far more recognition than it got. Sometimes little nuggets like that one go unnoticed because the music is unfashionable or the act hasn’t showed up on the media radar as a big enough blip just yet. Well, the St Neots combo have just produced another gem proving it’s about time they had their profile raised.
The thing with this latest release isn’t that it’s a good follow up; actually, it’s a great one. It’s not even that the affable quartet have now proved they’re capable of high quality consistency, which they are. The real thing is that ‘Angels’ Share’ as a stand alone record is that rare beast, a genuine no filler thriller from start to finish. How many great records do we know like that? Not many. Even the ones cited as milestones in music almost always suffer from millstones around the neck of perfection.
Moving a few steps away from their hard edged classic rock roots, The Simpletone have produced the kind of record that if it had been made by people with a more illustrious history it would be feted as a benchmark for others to aim for. There’s an underlying tone of early Sabbath that draws you in before you realise the guitar work is more free flowing. Then you get little touches of southern rock and a complete change in mood with the stripped back ‘Love Street’ which has an almost indie vibe to it. This is a complex album but it’s still very easy to listen to.
Glenn Eastoe’s vocals knit everything together keeping a constant bearing within the ebb and flow of the music. Even the monstrously long ‘Storm Chaser’ weighing in at over eleven minutes is a pleasure to listen to throughout its whole length. It’s this track that shows the real reason why the whole record works so well. The writing is outstanding being devoid of egotism and the production is spot on with just enough crispness without being too sharp. If ‘Angels’ Share’ had the backing of a major label then everyone would be raving about it. As it is it deserves to be heard and to show that bands like The Simpletone can produce mini masterpieces with little money but a huge reserve of talent.
GARY TRUEMAN