Are they gay? Are they dads? (Gay Dad in general)

Name: cswann

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Gay Dad in general
Date:	16/12/03 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great first album, Catchy Glam/pop rock

Disadvantages: Patchy second album

Gay Dad are made up of Cliff Jones, Nicholas ‘Baz’ Crowe, James Riseboro and Nigel Hoyle, (drummer Charley Stone left the band in 1999). To begin with, it looked like the band were just another Brit Pop band, and by the late 90s, let’s be honest, a lot of people had tired of the whole Blur/Oasis/Pulp thing, myself included.
Their first single, “To earth with love” was a big hit in the UK, and since then they’ve released 2 albums, “Leisure Noise” in 1999 and “Transmission” in 2001.

I loved that debut single, but because Gay Dad were linked with the Brit Pop thing, I didn’t expect to like “Leisure notes” at all at first, but it turned out to be one of my favourite albums.

When I first played it, the first things I thought were “wow, back to the 70s…” as there are so many influences from that time. Whether it’s Alice Cooper, T. Rex - and don’t just mean musical references, there are snatches of their lyrics too (“school’s out”, “let’s get it on” – you don’t have to be a 70s addict to spot them) – or Cheap Trick, Supertramp, Eagles… I hear them all in there somewhere.
I don’t think that Gay Dad are just trying a Pop Quiz name-that-tune exercise, though – on “To earth with love”, they actually TELL us in the lyrics about the Kraftwerk sample in the song.
Then I hear a little bit of Oasis in “Oh Jim”, Radiohead in “Different kind of blue”, and John Lennon in “Jesus Christ”. Then there are times when I’m reminded of Air and Gerry Rafferty.

OK, I’ve mentioned all those artists that I’m reminded of, and overall, I might describe it as mix of the Rolling Stones and Teardrop Explodes, just to name a couple more… but in the end this album sounds quite original in its own right.
ItR
17;s packed full of catchy tunes, great guitar riffs, and when I first listened to it I found Gay Dad’s “Leisure Notes” totally refreshing. It affected me in a very similar way to the New Radicals’ I’ve been brainwashed – yes, it’s derivative, but hey it’s great fun.
“Joy” is currently getting a revival in a Mitsibishi TV ad, and the song is exactly that – joyous. It seems to have everything but the kitchen sink in it, a spaced-out glitter dance number, with a bit of chanting at the end for good measure. And I always end up humming it for days after I’ve heard it.

My favourite track at the moment is “Black ghost”, which starts of sounding like ambient background music, but then it whooshes into seductive harmonies. The vocals are pretty impressive - Cliff Jones sings well, and can definitely hold a tune.

Now I’m not usually much of a lyrics person (it’s like a left-brain / right-brain thing, apparently you tend to listen to either one or the other) but I found myself really listening to the lyrics on a lot of these songs lyrics really force you to listen to them, and the songs are full of great phrases. Lines like “Is what you want exactly what you need?”, from “Joy!”

The only thing that gets the thumbs down from me is the CD inlay, which is one of the least informative I’ve ever seen – some nice artistic pictures, but next to no details about the band or the songs.

I’ve no idea whether it’s all a big joke, and whether the band have consciously ripped off lots of musical ideas, but I do know that mainman Jones is a music journalist turned musician, and I guess there must have been a certain amount of “I can do this better than
Either way, I don’t really mind either way, because for me, this album really works.

Two years on, I also bought “Transm
ission”, and have to say I found it a disappointment. The opening track, also called “Transmission”, is a great power pop song, Tracks like “Breathe” with it’s sad quality, and “Everything changes” have a beauty about them, and I like the choruses of “Dinosaur”.

But overall, it’s a very uneven album, and there are some tracks that I prefer to skip entirely. I’m afraid it’s one that I hardly ever play until the end. The thing is, though, that Gay Dad are definitely not predictable – there are many styles within each album, and both albums are different from one another. You couldn’t accuse them of milking a certain style.
So I’m still hanging in there waiting for the next album, which must be due about now on the basis that they come out every 2 years.
Musically, Gay Dad will keep us guessing.

On a final note… I have no idea whether the band members are gay. Or whether they are Dads.

Not that it matters one bit.

Summary: