Tan Hauser Gate
School EP
With Orson and The Feeling having proven that indie-pop has a place in the hearts of the great British record-buying public, I have no reason to doubt the potential of Tan Hauser Gate to follow in their footsteps with this laid back radio-friendly EP.
The crystal clear production on these tracks keeps the ear interested, but whilst they breeze along airily, Tan Hauser Gate never really get their hands dirty. Only the Specials groove of the title track really shows off the soul and grit of the otherwise perfectly formed pop songs.
From off-beat two-tone to spiky Franz Ferdinand stylings, Tan Hauser Gate’s repertoire is accomplished, with a strong rhythm section and nicely timed choruses, interspersed, as in ‘Money On My Mind’, with soaring Blur-esque vocal breaks.
This last connection, however, is the real fly in the ointment. I’m sure its been mentioned many times before, and is not really his fault, but vocalist James Hoare’s dulcet tones are remarkably similar to those of one Damon Albarn. Raising this salient point would, I admit, be lazy journalism, if it wasn’t so constantly apparent. If the band’s sound was entirely different than the work of Albarn, this wouldn’t be such an unshakable stigma, but Tan Hauser Gate’s songbook is certainly reminiscent at times of Blur and even of the ska leanings of Gorillaz.
Then again, this quirky vocal dopplegangerism could work in their favour, I suppose. The tracks are certainly strong enough on their own, in any case, and this could be the talking point to take the songs of Tan Hauser Gate onto the radiowaves, where these they truly would be in their element.
Guest article from David S.
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