Album Review

Orphan Boy – Shop Local

• 17th Apr 2008

Orphan Boy are the embodiment of an English rock band.

Now how you personally choose to channel this sentiment should be decided after casting an ear or two over their debut album, Shop Local.

My first listen of the album didn’t particularly do much for me at all, since the re-emergence and almost complete domination of guitar music over the past four or so years, new bands have swamped the industry and quality control has definitely been a victim.

The more you are subjected to, the fewer bands sound truly original, and perhaps that is exactly the point with this album, a repeat listen reveals very strong influences and sonic identities that can be traced back to a lineage of Great British bands including The Clash, Oasis, Sex Pistols and Arctic Monkeys, to name but a few.

As the album plays through they seem to try to pay their debt to a different band with each track and it almost turns into a game of spot the influence. Strummer style vocals. Alex Turner style delivery. Ramshackle Libertine-esque guitars. A Kooks pop sensibility. The list goes on. and on.

Lazy comparisons they may be but its far from a negative review for the band, many of the tracks on here are deserving of ‘stand-out’ status but the album seems to get lost within itself as tracks charge off in different directions, pulling the album apart instead of finding a focus, also, at 13 songs long it feels drawn out and derivative, losing the punch and urgency that a shorter set would have comprised.