Album Review

People In Planes – Last Man Standing

• 13th Apr 2009

You might be inclined to believe we need another Welsh Rock band like a CD needs a scratch. If you are entrenched in this view like the Germans in World War Two, Paper Planes are not going to bring you round. If you are perennially sat on the bench ala Switzerland these guys may be of interest. For at least one song anyway. Turns out Paper Planes have a nugget of talent coursing through new single ‘Last Man Standing’. Its neat groove chugs along under an oft used but still satisfying vocal melody from vocalist Gareth Jones, who sounds at times like a dirty Eddie Vedder.

But whilst ‘Last Man Standing’ is a perfectly palatable slice of electro tinged rock like goodness the other two songs are steaming piles of tripe. Supergrass lite ‘Barracuda’ is about as worthless as the Zimbabwean dollar and ‘Baked’ sounds like it was taken out of the oven before it had risen properly and thus promptly collapsed in on its mindlessly turgid self.

The question is does ‘Last Man Standing’ make this little package worth the hassle? Yes, yes it does because, whilst the other two songs strike guitar hero poses in their bedroom Last Man Standing is the real deal, a song you imagine rocking the roof off of an actual real life venue.