Liam Finn is a fantastic live performer. Guitar lines loop over each other through an array of pedals. The swirling sounds of the multiple guitar and bass parts fully color in the songs as he sings instantly catchy pop melodies over the top of it all. Sometimes towards the end of a song, he'll sit down and accompany the wall of guitar sounds with a drumkit. As he flails away on the kit, it provides the perfect release to all the energy that song already has. The songs have to go somewhere and the drums help them get there.
The danger, of course, lies in whether or not that can translate to the record. And I'll Be Lightning, Finn's solo debut after his work with his former band Betchadupa. Finn plays almost every note on the record. It sounds a bit like it as well, in a very good way. Bits and pieces flow in and out of the mix, lending itself to a bit of a bedroom recording kind of sound. But it also has impressive arrangements sounding like a solid five-piece group.
And it grabs you quick. It opens with "Better to Be", a nice tune bolstered by noisy guitar blasts and sunshine harmonies. Then, it's followed with first single, "Second Chance", with a tick-tock drum program that alternates between sounding too slow and too fast before the live drums come in and the whole song just explodes out of the speakers.
By then, the record should have already have your attention. And the quality level stays very consistent. Finn's voice has much more sides to it than most one-man bands. I'll Be Lightning is a solid and promising debut for an artist that should have much more up his sleeve.
Liam Finn on MySpace
"Second Chance" (Live) on YouTube from the Beacon Theater in New York, August 2007. You can also probably find his performance of that song with vocalist Eliza-Jane Barnes on the Late Show with David Letterman there as well.
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