| This Week's Highlights |
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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Five albums in, still no sign of TBFM making the big- time. Please And Thank You is not exactly a step forward for this Cambridge band. You could put this CD on once and forget about it, as much of it is quite forgettable. In the past they tried to engage fans with an east Anglian slant on Americana, which really does take some doing. Also, they’ve recently down-sized, losing their girl members, leaving them as a more conventional rock quartet, losing much of their spice in the process. It’s not all bad news though as they try-out their new format, but some of the instrumental detail has gone. They seem to have become a more rock orientated band, trying to branch out with some tricky moments. They haven’t quite nailed a great song, yet, but there are glimpses of what they might become which comes late on the album, like the punk pop of Stay Friendly, showing acute elements of dynamic experimentation.
Opener Please Yourself does retain their nods to Americana that includes a Led Zeppelin riff combined with shades of Primal Scream’s Country Girl. Again on Salivating, a juicy rocker, the riff is quite infectious and falls into ‘serious foot-tapper’ and there’s some seriously understated licks to give it a push, but then the banality of St.Albans which is only highlighted by swearing, drags things into mediocrity. Things take an even bigger nose-dive on limp You Did A Bad Thing, punctuated by ghostly guitar wails. As if it couldn’t get any worse, the duplicity of sentiments and emotions make Cinema Vs. House a real screwball track – “I love you, I don’t love you…, thrown in, about the choice of going to the pictures, or not. Mh. Thankfully, Borrowed Time has some semblance of a decent catchy tune with some meaningful lyrics. A further improvement comes with country-rocker Mimi which has by far the best song construction and great instrumentation showing subtlety in the key shifts, but Son Of The Man lets the side down again as it rambles aimlessly. The Girls In This Town rescues the album, again. This romping and catchy pop rocker with its whopping chorus points them in the right direction once again. The verdict: Room for improvement.
Weblinks: cookingvinyl.com / thebrokenfamilyband.com
The full list of tracks included are :
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
