You might know Gareth James as a member of punk rock acts Second In Line or Plus 10 Damage, you might know him for his work with Dirty Sushi Records, but you might not know Gareth James as a solo acoustic guy. Gareth has decided that he's getting older and it's time to chill out with his acoustic guitar and sing some songs about his life so far. In May he released the single Just Lately. Now, normally I'm not the person at CPRW who really likes to review acoustic releases and we don't often review singles but I enjoyed this so much I had to give it a go.
The first of the two tracks on the single is named CDs And Photographs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is a much softer style than what I'm used to with Gareth's bands. I'm immediately drawn to his voice which is seriously strong – you know, for a punk singing acoustic. The slightly up-tempo melody makes sure the song has a lot of life as Gareth sings a very retrospective feeling track about wanting to be a star when he was younger and still pushing for it.
The title track, Just Lately, is an up-tempo track that feels a little rawer than the previous song. I actually prefer the less polished production on the song, especially when the song begins to build towards the end. Gareth grows more emotional and intense during this build and does a magnificent job of grabbing your attention. The whole song is pretty captivating and Gareth really takes you on a series of highs and lows throughout.
Like I said in the introduction, I really enjoyed this acoustic side of Gareth James, showing a softer side but keeping a hard punk edge. Gareth is looking to play more acoustic shows and I'd love to see him live.
Stream and download Just Lately here: https://garethjames.bandcamp.com/releases
Like Gareth James here: https://www.facebook.com/GarethJamesAcousticVersion/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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