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@ the Maze, Nottingham 10.7.02 (review © Jon Horne 2002) from Maverick magazine Ed Hamell has crossed the Atlantic so often these past few months that he is practically a commuter. A string of UK tours has garnered him an audience in this country which years of gigging (in struggling punk bands, and as a lesser light on the New York anti-folk scene) has so far failed to achieve in the US. Like the better-known (and more expensively promoted) Jim White, Hamell is a performer and storyteller more than he is a songwriter. Possessed of a voice with more expression than range, he rarely sings a song straight, preferring to narrate his stories over a tough, riffy musical backing. Since he started playing solo in the early-1990s, Hamell's work has shifted from more-or-less autobiographical pieces ('John Lennon', 'The Vines'), to the interconnected tall tales of small-city lowlife which make up 'Choochtown' (which could, if you were trying to scare away anyone who wanted to buy it, be described as a concept album). What has remained constant is the music, punchy but restrained on record, leaving plenty of space for the narrative, but brutal on stage, consisting only of Hamell's slack-tuned 1930s acoustic guitar, its already scratchy tone amplified and compressed so as to sound like a full band - or occasionally like a car-crash. Over this invigorating racket, Hamell barks and leers in character, sometimes interrupting a song for the sake of a joke, but mostly just doing whatever it takes to get the story across. Hamell On Trial is pretty much a show for boys. "I meet people who've come to see me on a first date," Hamell tells the audience, "what were they THINKING?!" He uses this line to introduce 'I'm Gonna Watch You Sleep', a conventional song of unusual tenderness, dedicated to his wife. He sings it modestly and, however loud the guitar, sweetly. "Okay," he says, "now back to the bestiality and anal sex jokes." Hamell wears his influences on his sleeve. A tribute to Bill Hicks, and encores of 'Rockaway Beach' ("for Joey and Dee Dee") and 'Waiting For The Man' should give you an idea of where he is coming from. As for where he is going, one suspects that he will soon start selling enough tickets to fill concert halls. See him now, in a small venue, while you still can. - - - read more rants and raves |