Filtro
Songs To Set Your Helmet On Fire EP
Four songs of inoffensive pop competence from indie emigrant Philip MacConnell.
Obvious mod influences abound, such as Paul Weller and the Small Faces, but more recently Filtro has clearly absorbed some of what Cast and Teenage Fanclub had to offer.
The song structures are simple and the lyrics gently quirky. They get the job done. Most of the bass-lines betray an appreciation of the Cure and 90s New Order and help the tracks stay afloat.
Nothing is particularly risky here, but to be fair, that’s really not the point of such jangling. A lengthy guitar-led ending to Good Conversation is one of the few moments that might provoke the listener to pick up the sleeve and investigate further.
The lack of other input in such solo enterprises can be a mixed blessing. In this case, whilst I’m sure Filtro has avoided the need to compromise his own musical vision, the colour added by other musicians with different tastes might have helped these songs attain some identity of their own.
As it stands, they happen without much cause for alarm.
> Chris Cusack
www.myspace.com/filtrosound
Four songs of inoffensive pop competence from indie emigrant Philip MacConnell.
Obvious mod influences abound, such as Paul Weller and the Small Faces, but more recently Filtro has clearly absorbed some of what Cast and Teenage Fanclub had to offer.
The song structures are simple and the lyrics gently quirky. They get the job done. Most of the bass-lines betray an appreciation of the Cure and 90s New Order and help the tracks stay afloat.
Nothing is particularly risky here, but to be fair, that’s really not the point of such jangling. A lengthy guitar-led ending to Good Conversation is one of the few moments that might provoke the listener to pick up the sleeve and investigate further.
The lack of other input in such solo enterprises can be a mixed blessing. In this case, whilst I’m sure Filtro has avoided the need to compromise his own musical vision, the colour added by other musicians with different tastes might have helped these songs attain some identity of their own.
As it stands, they happen without much cause for alarm.
> Chris Cusack
www.myspace.com/filtrosound
