Ben Jones

Meet your new favourite summertime band - The Lovedays.

The Lovedays
The Lovedays are fronted by multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones. What Ryan Adams is to Americana Jones is the Kent equivalent. Equally as prolific and taking a bit of his voice to mix in with his estuary tones, The Lovedays are his labour of love. Taking elements of The Move, classic-rock-era Who, and The Hollies amongst others, with a good dollop of garage band power-pop energy, the final product is an exceedingly coherent and immensely enjoyable brand of jaunty pop.

Lead track of current EP Red Letter Day is the sort of tune that Supergrass would kill for these days. Likewise 'Lions' has an effervescent smile across its face as it remembers a time when guitar music was meant to move your feet first and foremost. The late arrival of fiddle in the track also makes us think of early The Wonder Stuff.

If the idea of Britpop never went stale for you then The Lovedays are probably just what you're looking for. Regulars on the Kent live circuit, if you're north-west way don't forget to get to the excellent International Pop Overthrow Festival at The Cavern Club in Liverpool in May, where the boys will be playing. - modculture.com

Multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones leads quartet The Lovedays and playing a vast selection of instruments ranging from Wurlitzers, Mellotrons and Mandolins, he drives The Lovedays to power pop perfection. They first come across to me as a love child of Oasis, The Bluetones and The Stone Roses, but its all the intricate little production touches and instrumental cameos that set them apart.
The Songwriting on display is just right for the genre, thoughtful without being too convoluted and on every song Ben Jones’ vocal performance sends you back to the early days of British indie/pop. I hope the Lovedays are one of the bands involved in the next Blur vs. Oasis style battle of the bands and they possess the talent to be as successful as either of them. - www.the-gig-guide.co.uk

The Lovedays have a new album available. BBC Kent Introducings Stephen Morris casts his ear over thirteen new songs - and loves each one of them.

The sound on the Lovedays’ new album has changed somewhat since earlier songs such as “LA Woman” and “When the Lights Went Out”. Such tracks had a clear Trans-Atlantic sound; all Blues-heavy rock and roll.

It’s true that “Sunshine” from the new album features an instrumental introduction that could easily soundtrack a duel from a Spaghetti Western. There’s also a good dollop of 1950s US pop in there. But for the most part House of Cards is a very British Affair. Sound references can easily be located in The Beatles, naturally enough, but also in Kula Shaker’s psychedelic (minus the swastikas and Far Eastern pretensions) and, most prominently, Dodgy.

The Medway Snarl:

House of Cards is an inventive, innovative album that, despite its fairly melancholy content (mainly break-ups and heartache), nevertheless has an upbeat feel that suggests maybe life isn’t so bad after all. The lyrics are delivered with Ben Jones’ characteristic snarl. It’s a vocal trait that Jones shares with fellow Medway resident Dave Goggins of Brigadier Ambrose.

There is much else that The Lovedays share in common with Brigadier Ambrose: both appear to share a love of the 60s and the 90s music that sought to revive the swinging decade. Consequently, the new Lovedays’ record features a Penny Lane-ish trumpet on “Your Favourite Trick”, a late Beatles/Hollies hybrid in final track “Gravity” and an instrumental introduction to “Lily White” which could merges the sound of David Bowie and The Shadows.

Rich Pickings:

This is far from derivative. There is a subtle divide between copyism and a respectful nod of the head to the music of the past. It is thanks to their aforementioned innovation and imagination that The Lovedays are able to stay on the right side of the divide every time.

If you want proof, listen to the luscious string harmonies, the complex brass parts, the use of Middle Eastern styles in “Sunshine”, the clever use of harpsichords in “Your Favourite Trick”. I could go on. Even when the band is reduced to a more traditional guitars and drums line up, there is a richness and texture unfound in many of the band’s peers.

More Than the Sum of its Halves:

The lyrics on House of Cards don’t fail to delight either. Each listen will highlight a new interesting couplet or a clever line - an impressive feat when it come to subject matter that has been doing the rounds since the dawn of time. Lines like “I knew that I was out of luck/when I could nearly see the bottom of my coffee cup” draw upon well worn phrases and make them new again.

Elsewhere, “Don’t Tell Me” reflects the panic of entering a new relationship with the narrator panicking that his new girlfriend will demand he change for her. It is the brutal honesty of the songs here that makes them stand out from the crowd. A new girlfriend may look like “an angel even in those old blue jeans”, but that doesn’t exclude room for doubt, fear or self loathing.

House of Cards is a multi-textured album - both musically and lyrically. For all the nods of the heads towards The Beatles, David Bowie and the Hollies, The Lovedays’ music is principally gloriously original, full of nuggets of musical gold. You would do very well to listen to it: very well indeed. - BBC