Let’s hope you’re hearing is perfection when you check out The Left One is the Deaf One’s EP. It’s a black cauldron filled with a little folk, a little rebellion and even a hint of Country that is bound to cast a spell on listeners who enjoy a sound different from the norm.
As “quiet is lonesome” sets in, you’re taken to a scene of yes, a man alone with only raw materials to capture the sound of his solitude. But give this man a horse and maybe he’d be a cowboy with a brighter tune? Or maybe he’d take a page out of the Country book and sing a tale like many Country boys do. “Robin The Transient” even shouts out a “town in Texas.”
Lone hearts and Lone Stars aside, the one thing that really made this EP pop were a couple of tracks at the end that will perk up ears of Frank Turner fans. “Lazarus” and “where we’re going” both have religious vibes that will make people take a second listen, both about life and existing in it, but both on different paths.
“Lazarus” hooked me from the start and is bound to be the star of this bunch. Even though it’s a message repeated time and time again, any time a song proclaims you’ve only got one life to live, you can’t help but treat it like the sun. And as for the other? “where we’re going” may not have won me over as much as “Lazarus,” but it definitely won the top prize for the best line, “sometimes I feel like God is dead.” When reality bites, it’s hard to have faith in anything, no matter what you believe in and this capture that in a nut shell.
In the end The Left One is the Deaf One’s EP is for anyone who needs something to cling to in the musical sense and likes the sounds of Frank Turner and Ben Marwood, simple as that. It’s that folk idea with a hint of badass in the lyrics. It’s no “Straight of Compton,” but it gets the job done.
Originally published on August 26, 2011
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