Sky Valley Mistress – The Best Thing
You’ve Never Heard
DL
Out Now
I’m originally from Burnley
Lancashire, so the prospect of reviewing a group from neighbours Blackburn
shouldn’t really be something that I savour, but, given that their new and
young and well, local, I said I’d give them a go. Forgetting the rivalry between our towns, I
actually really enjoyed their debut EP which has the great title of The Best
Thing You’ve Never Heard. Well, I’ve
heard it now so it doesn’t really mean anything, other than it could have been.
Describing themselves as a
rock’n’roll band, their influences are clearly Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin
based. This is slightly ironic as lead
singer, Kayley Davies, has a voice very reminiscent of Sandy McKenzie, lead
singer with 90s one hit wonders Goldbug, who had a hit with their fantastic
version of Whole Lotta Love. The irony
doesn’t end there as their track My Time Has Come does have similarities to the
track too, a track that starts calmly enough but soon builds into a colossus of
a track complete with psychedelic interlude.
EP opener, The Day Of The Lion, is a
great start. Davies’ vocals are quite
superb and her range and note longevity is very impressive. The drums are loud and key to the track, and
the guitars are aggressive. If there’s a
downside to the track, it’s the male backing vocals which aren’t conducive and
don’t seem to compliment the lead vocals at all. Complete with a DJ nightmare false ending,
it’s rock meets metal meets pop and is exceptionally good.
Dirty Blonde Blues is as you’d maybe
expect, blues based. Again, Kayley’s
vocal shine in a song that is particularly suited to her. More blues oriented songs would be
interesting from Sky Valley Mistress as it’s something that they do do very
well. It would also be nice to hear them
tackle something slightly slower paced to see if their obvious talents extend
even further.
The EP is well produced too where
special mention should go to Sean Berry for his work where he has really
brought out the rawness and power of the group.
It has to be said, that for a group
of eighteen year olds, they show terrific maturity and have plenty of ideas and
oomph. They’ve obviously caught the eye
of many people too – the inclusion in this years Download Festival endorsing
the fact.
8/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 17/06/13 - here
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