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When I put this cd on, my first thought was Cool, an Aboriginal reggae band! And I was digging it. I was still digging it when I opened up the bio sheet and found out that The Isle Of Man are a four-piece bunch of boys – definitely white – and living out their rock and roll dreams in Melbourne.
'I Want My Records Back' is a great song, and, in a roundabout way, the reply to Carol Bayer Sager's hit 'You're Moving Out Today' from 1977. She says 'so pack your toys away/your 45s away/your funny cigarettes/your sixty-one cassettes' and he says back to her, in a laidback drawl, ‘I want my records back’. (I’d quote some more lyrics from the Isle Of Man song here, but found them a bit hard to work out).
The other two songs have a similar feel to 'I Want My Records Back', something to do with the rhythm guitar, but that's not a bad thing as both 'I'm A Foolish Man' and 'For The Hundredth Time’ are good'ns, too, with the latter being a bit of a grower. There's an overall sound to The Isle Of Man songs - a confident 60s-style pop attitude. Funny how I originally heard Australian reggae!
The Isle Of Man cite The Kinks, Zombies, Elvis Costello and XTC as inspiration so they get full marks for having good taste. Their three-tracker cd was recorded by Paul Maybury from fellow-Melbournites Rocket Science and the songs have a warm, bouncy sound to them. We look forward to hearing more 'sussed, toe-tapping Kinksian pop' from the lads. – ND
P.S. the old Kriesler (well, that's my guess) stereo system looks pretty cool in the cd insert, too!
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