Curerbell

'CD is a pleasure to review'

Curerbell – a Llanelli band totally unknown to me before today requested that I review a collection of their songs called You Bring The Balloons.

One thing for certain (because of my unfamiliarity with the band and their music) is that this review could only be a purely objective exercise on my behalf. I was initially worried that the band would lack tunes and that I would be subjected to a fruitless task.

Thankfully this fear could not have been further away from the truth. The record opens with a song called Nobody Knows Everybody, and upon first listen I was immediately captivated because it reminded me of the opening to REM’s great ‘return to form’ single Imitation Of Life. Could I have been more pleased with this revelation if I’d tried?

Blown away from the start were my fears of a local band without tunes, and to be honest has there been a more tuneful or melodic band over the last twenty years than REM? I doubt it.

However, although I realised that here was a band who were clearly accomplished and professional musically, I was further treated to the superb vocals. I couldn’t quite grasp who this singer reminded me of, so I searched through some of my records and before too long I settled with the vocalist of little known Belgian band DEUS (who, it must be added, sings beautifully!) So, what a start, a Llanelli band sounding like REM fronted by DEUS vocalist.

After hearing the 4-track CD a few times, one is mindful that each song is masterfully crafted and demands repeated listening; each of the bands components are equally realised and vital to the full sound. It is also clear that here is a band who are mature in their approach to song writing, as the overall theme running through the four tracks is that of love, or rather lost-love.

Ironically, for a record with sad or melancholic leanings, it certainly doesn’t make the listener feel this way. In-fact the opposite is true, the record would probably be best heard or realised on a beautiful summer’s day. The difficult task for me proved to be selecting a stand-out track, but all the same a truly enjoyable task! It has to be the third song, entitled Gem, and a more apt title could never have been applied to such a song. It’s a song with lyrics capable of sending the listener time and again into romantic reveries of a special girlfriend from the past. Comparisons to today’s contemporary British guitar bands, possibly ranging from Travis, Coldplay and Starsailor, but it must be noted by this reviewer that Gem is a better song than anything written by any of these bands. “I fall in love too easily”, and “It’s just your smile that makes it worth-while” lyrics any individual can relate personally. Also, just as a bonus, Curerbell at the beginning of this track, have used the intriguing effects of a song being transmitted through a distorted radio – excellent!!

I’ve only ever heard this type of thing once previously by Mark Linkous and his band Sparklehorse from Virginia, USA. Finally, it is worth mentioning that additional to this almost faultless collection of great songs, there is remarkable piece of prose contained within the sleeve-notes and to quote them: “We are, as such prepared to take full responsibility of these songs.”

All in all, as a piece of objective reviewing it has been my pleasure under-going the task. I sincerely hope that the band not only take responsibility for the songs but must also surely be proud of this fine musical accomplishment. I wish them the best of luck and hope to hear more from them through commercial channels in the future.

By Ashley Bowen

Llanelli Star, January 2002 - Ashley Bowen