Ryan's Gig Guide - October 2019

THE VERDICT BY NICK J. TOWNSEND Greetings weaklings.You require balls to send me a CD because I’ve heard and reviewed some of the best music this region has to offer. I’ll take your music career and creativity very seriously indeed but will you do the same? SINGLE OF THE MONTH LEARN TO LIE: Feel Staffordshire /West Midlands based four piece Alt-Rock band Learn To Lie release their single ‘Feel’. Solid track overall, maybe for a single it could have been a minute shorter? Balances chart pop and rock like a see saw. It grabs your attention immediately by coming in with catchy mainstream indie guitar and vocals but then for the chorus arrives, like an oil tanker, the not so obvious metal riff which really turns up the heat. Rather enjoyed this; it’s got elements of prog for all you musician boffins out there but the main thing is it’s a good song so it’s single of the month. www.facebook.com/LearnToLie Ten track album plus two bonus tracks (Alternative versions of opening track “When I Look Into Your Eyes” and “The Captain’s Dead”). Highlights include “Doorway”, the hope filled and inspiring “Dance” (one of my favourites), the wonderfully thoughtful and beautifully executed homelessness awareness song “Nothing Was Said” and the beforehand mentioned “The Captain’s Dead” which is a somewhat creepy yet spiritual compelling masterpiece of storytelling and both versions on here are definitely worth your time; it’s all down to personal taste; each set a different tone. I didn’t like the front cover design at all as it’s way too generic; could have done with a good photo of John with his guitar I reckon and I think the broken Jewel case it was boxed in is so 1999 but this is a superb album and I was quite impressed.There’s a huge level of song writing ability and there’s some darn good tunes on here. My only gripe musically was ‘Como-Estas’ which is a quaint Spanish Mexican mash up that to me really felt more like a poor mans version of the opening and closing theme music for the TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Let me just add that I detested that show during my youth which may explain my odd reaction to this one John Langford song. My apologies. I’d call the overall style of this Black Country singer songwriter acoustic blues but he may have a far superior way of describing his music.Top work and definitely album of the month. I was very impressed with the top levels of professionalism here. Brilliant work. John has many more entertaining releases which can all be discovered by going to his main site. www.johnlangfordmusic.com ALBUM OF THE MONTH JOHN LANGFORD: When You Dream www.ryansgigguide.com 8 rgg Oct 2019