Album Review

The Thin Men – Dream Of You

• 7th May 2008

There are some things that just don’t sound like they should mix well, no matter what others would have you believe. Like black pepper on strawberries. You’re not even sure afterwards whether it actually worked. Blair Jollands wilfully combines a whole raft of flavours for this EP with his band The Thin Men. Though these influences may seem diverse on first glance, they share lush production values and a haunting kookiness which glues the whole thing together.

Nowhere could be Bono-sings-Roy-Orbison, with Ziggy Stardust floating around (in a most peculiar way?) in the background. There’s a taste of Bowie throughout the EP, particularly in Dream of You, which has an other-worldliness and epic quality that suggests Space Oddity as ripped off by Muse. The same goes for Liloette, and with a quirky lyricism and metre that’s almost Bolanesque in places, it’s like splicing Radiohead with T Rex. Broken Line is the most orthodox track, with a sweeping misery that couldn’t be bettered by Richard Ashcroft covering Dusty Springfield. Lastly, the acoustic guitar and sense of whimsy in Walkin’ Blues gives us Johnny Cash meets Beck, albeit with Northern-Soul-style samples. The combinations get more eccentric the deeper you delve. Not to everyone’s palate, perhaps, but intriguing.