No Frills Reviews

An impressive tribute to classic psych pop, that gets stuck under the shadow of its influences

Brighton-based The Heavy Heavy haven’t drawn a huge amount of hype at home but have been building an impressive following stateside; fitting for a band whose sound could come straight out of Laurel Canyon. A sun-drenched blend of psychedelic folk-rock, with big hints of The Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, and CSN, amongst others.

Driven by the powerful harmonies of founders, Georgie Fuller and William Turner, and with consistently excellent instrumental flourishes; from the rolling drums of the opener to pedal steel country drawls, with a barrage of dreamy grooves and gently piercing riffs along the way. This is like stumbling across a lost classic; it sounds like it could have been recorded in late 60s LA.

The problem is that it sounds like it could have been recorded in late 60s LA. There’s a whiff of inauthenticity about the whole thing; from the suspiciously Americanised twang of the vocals to cringingly dated lines like “I am a freeloader love junkie”. This is pretty much pure pastiche; you get very little sense of who The Heavy Heavy actually are, beyond an assimilation of their influences. They’ve done a good job of replicating the sounds of their favourite records, but without really adding any ideas of their own.

That means you’re often left thinking about who they sound like, rather than what they bring to the table themselves. They sound so much like Crosby, Stills & Nash on Lovestruck that it’s created a Mandela effect in my head, convincing me that they’ve ripped their “beep beep” ad libs straight from a section of Marrakesh Express. They haven’t, but it still just makes me want to listen to the first CSN album instead.

There’s also nods to some of the British greats of the era, with hints of Led Zeppelin and the Stones as they incorporate some harder blues to offset the almost overwhelming sweetness across the album. But, even as the influences get a little closer to home, it doesn’t get us any closer to the heart of The Heavy Heavy as they continually serve up lyrics full of vague platitudes. You might be able to pass it off as timeless songwriting, but it’s so generic that it feels lacking in personality.

There was one key descriptor that I originally included but then removed – Soulful. One of a Kind gives the illusion of being a soulful record, probably none more so than the moments where Fuller almost lets loose into Gimme Shelter-esque primal wails. But it falls short of actually being soulful due to that lack of personality. It’s an imitation.

You’ll not be going too wrong with this album. Fuller and Turner are both really strong vocalists. And Turner, who handled most of the instrumentation is clearly a talented musician. But while One of a Kind does mostly sound great, it also sounds like a band without an identity of their own.

Best Tunes: One of a Kind, Happiness, Wild Emotion

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