I can hear that a lot of time, energy and love have been devoted to this album. Clearly this is the work of four talented male musicians from Plymouth who have got together with some trusty mates to self produce an ambitious record where they've bigged up the sound pay homage to classic catalogues of The Beach Boys Beatles and other 60s faves.
For more recent comparisons you could think of the good humoured revivalism of Teenage Fanclub and the orchestral sound of the last few Super Furry Animals records.
These reference points are hard to fault but unfortunately the end result here just manages to sound quite bland and unconvincing.
The main problem is that rather than letting the songs breathe, the busy and overly ornate production values tend to suffocate them.
It shows a lack of confidence in the lyrics to stand on their own merits and with lines like "When I met her, things got better" (Ice Cream Dream), maybe they have a point!
They also have a tendency to sound very twee as on 'Boy Girl Song' where a swooning falsetto sings "Her hair's so long". This may pass for romantic in some quarters but sounded plain soppy to me.
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While most of the songs are written by Phil Baker, the vocal duties are democratically divided between all four group members and there are also two guest singers. The big number at the heart of the album is 'Laughing, Smiling, Joking' which features the vocals of all four core members.
The album as a whole is therefore very much an ensemble piece ambitious in scope but suffering from a lack a clear focus or cohesive themes.
Lemanis are so relentlessly good natured and mild mannered that I couldn't help longing for a darker side to enter the fray.
Album info: 13 tracks ; 48.27m
www.myspace.com/lemanisband
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