Written
by Laura Dodero, posted by blog admin
Some
people have to work at it, wood shedding and chipping away until they carve
their talent out of intelligence and sheer rote alike. Other musical artists
sound like they never had a chance to do anything else with their lives and it
naturally comes out of them without much apparent labor. Ben Brookes definitely
sounds like a natural. The ten songs on The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon
seem to come gushing out of him, yet they are guided by an artistry that
condenses his waves of emotion into well constructed pop rock sounds brimming
over with melodic excellence and moments of real rock and roll muscle. Two
former members of pop rock legends Badfinger aid Brookes in realizing his
musical vision and one of them, producer Mark Healey, is particularly important
as Brookes primary collaborator in making this effort as good as it sounds.
Despite any indie status this review or other may confer on Brookes and his
release, the sound quality and mix of this album is as highly polished as any
mainstream release.
The
naturalness of his talents comes across immediately. “I Wanna Go Home” never
reaches to have an effect on the listener because it definitely touches upon
emotions we’ve all experienced while still moving to its own idiosyncratic
beat. The vocal melodies on The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon are among
the greatest strengths on this release and the first track gives us one of
Brookes’ better ones, but the supporting performances from his band mates is
equally important in making this song stick in the brain. “Asleep in Galilee”
is one of the more commercially minded offerings on the release and features
particularly effective keyboard playing from Greg Inhofer. It has an almost
heartland rocker thrust thanks to Inhofer’s contributions and the Americana
quality of the performance juxtaposes nicely with the innate Englishness at the
heart of it all. “Crack a Smile” has lyrics that share a distant kinship with
blues songs of the distant past and still comes off as one of the better
ballad-styled numbers on The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon.
“Before
Sunlight” and “Siren” are the final two predominantly acoustic songs on the
album. The first track is one of the melodic crown jewels of the release and
the irresistible qualities of the melody are difficult, if not impossible, to
forget. “Siren” is probably closer to the style we hear him employ on “Crack a
Smile” and has a straight ahead approach Brookes might have varied more. It’s a
rare partial misstep on the album, but doesn’t compromise the release in any
way. The guitar driven muscle of “Stories in the Rain” and “Somewhere Around
Eight” breaks musically from the album’s first half in a decisive way and doesn’t
let go of listeners once it’s sank its teeth into you. The album ends with the
meditative “Shackles”, a track sporting one of the album’s best choruses, and the
lead guitar near its end gives it extra eloquence it might have otherwise
missed. The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon is an outstanding release that
will win Brookes countless fans, both young and old. It’s a good feeling to
come in on the ground floor of something big and, frankly, potential doesn’t
get much bolder and bigger than what we hear with this album.
