Album Review: Society - Songs From The Brickhouse (Self Release)

It seems a well trodden path to cite The Band as an influence on much of today's Americana, with many artists at some point being compared to arguably the most influential band of the last forty years. Some deserve that recognition more than others it has to be said and it should be seen as praise indeed, bearing in mind that those five musicians made some of the most ground breaking music of our time. In some cases however, the comparison is less deserved. Who for instance can forget music journalists noting that teeny um-boppers Hanson bore a slight similarity, albeit on helium? On Society's SONGS FROM THE BRICKHOUSE the comparison is right on the mark; it wouldn't be beyond comprehension to imagine the opening song Fool's End slipping in between Look Out Cleveland and Jawbone without so much as a flinch.

Remarkably, Society were formed an ocean away from the Woodstock Mountains in West Sussex, but they sound anything but British. The band comprises of Matt Wise (Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica), F. Scott Kenny (Drums, Vocals) and Andrew Prosser (Bass, Vocals) subsequently replaced by current bassist Ben Lancaster and their strongest point it has to be said, is in their tight three part vocal harmonies, at times echoing the sweetness of Crosby, Stills and Nash, whilst at others the earthiness of Manuel, Helm and Danko. Their other strong point is in the consistently good sense of melody; most of the songs here are instantly memorable in their melodic construction.

The Brickhouse refers to the studio in Brighton, where the bulk of this album was recorded. With the help from a bunch of select musicians including Deadstring Brothers' Spencer Cullum on pedal steel, Dave Berliner and James Batchelar sharing keyboard duties and Sarah Gonputh providing some violin, Society bring a fresh contemporary sound to music grounded in another era. If some of the songs do inevitably draw the listener's attention to Big Pink era roots rock on the East Coast, certainly I Watch the Rain Fall Out of You and Back In The Woods, then on others like I Do Belong we have all the hallmarks of West Coast country flavoured pop rock. On My Way is where John Haitt meets the Heartbreakers head on. Knives owes more of a debt to that glorious point in time where the Stones met Gram Parsons and is one of the album's stand out songs. 

The album closes with a simple country blues with When the Lights Go Down featuring some sparring bottleneck guitar and McGuinness Flint style mandolin, bringing with it a lightness of touch that leaves you either wanting more, or the immediate desire to flip the needle right back to the start.

Allan Wilkinson
Northern Sky