Album Review: The Henry Clay People – Somewhere On The Golden Coast

By Seamus Simpson
(photo by Drew Reynolds)

Somewhere on the Golden Coast is told to us to be the third Henry Clay People album, but it has the feel of an actual first album by the band. In a sense it is, with the addition of a new rhythm section into the fold. (In the effort of full disclosure I have been friends with and watching the rise of this band for quite some time.) Although they have changed stylistically over the last couple of years they still remain a vibrant band with a great knack for writing rock/power pop songs. A lot of these attributes come out in this album.

Of course, there are the mainstays and carry-over from the band’s previous recordings including re-recorded versions of “Working Part Time” and “This Ain’t a Scene” which sound a little crisper with heightened production value. The bulk of the album is the bread and butter of what defines the Henry Clay People these days: strong, fast, power pop bar rock songs. Some would take the moniker of “bar band” and shy away from it, but not these guys. They seem to almost revel in it. Standout tracks in this vein include “Slow Burn” and “End of an Empire” which showcase as best as it can the pure rock of the band. Drums and bass propel you though the song. The high octane dueling guitars of the Siara brothers keep you saddled down with intricate lead lines in the strain of the best rock and roll. While these songs are good they miss a little of the energy that seeing them live adds to the equation.

The single biggest thing I was impressed by on this album was the softer side of the Clays. Something that I don't usually see conveyed in their live show. “A Temporary Fix” is a lilting slow burn of a song that builds through with a rather touching clean guitar line that is made all the more apparent by the sonic wash of electric guitar in the background. It is something I have rarely seen from this band, and it really impressed me. It shows me that the band of boys are growing up with real emotions other than “rocking out the club."

All of this comes to a beautiful head at the very end of the album in the gorgeous song “Two Lives At The End Of The Night,” which has easily become in my eyes the best song the Henry Clay People have written. It shows a level of maturity that I have not seen in the band before. It is a harbinger of the great things this band is capable of in the future. If I had any real beef with the album it would the absence of the song “Switch Kids” which band leaked in the months leading up the album, but if the worst thing you can say about an album is there wasn’t enough music then I think you are doing something right.

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Somewhere on the Golden Coast will be released June 22 on TBD Records. The boys play a record release show at Spaceland June 8.

Comments

[blah]

can you post a tracklisting in the comments section?

[Kathryn Pinto]

Tracklisting

1. Nobody Taught Us To Quit
2. Working Part Time
3. Keep Your Eyes Closed
4. Digital Kid
5. Slow Burn
6. End Of An Empire
7. This Aint A Scene
8. A Temporary Fix
9. Saturday Night
10. Your Famous Friends
11. Two Lives At The End Of The Night

[blah]

thanks!

[blah]

ya i'm kind of bummed 'taste of the tasteless' and 'randy where's the rest of me' didn't make the cut