Bland at first, but worth the effort.
It’s easy to discard this collection of unhappy Britpop as nothing special on first listen. Perhaps you could even go so far as to use words as crippling to the music industry as ‘boring’, ‘unoriginal’ and ‘clichéd’. When I first heard ‘Just Another Day’ by Wire Daisies, I was confronted with these exact words; but instead of writing it off as just another unimaginative debut album, I allowed myself another listen. This time around something happened, I found the Wire Daisies’ sound permeating my brain. Songs I had disregarded the previous day had seemingly lodged themselves in my memory, and I found myself humming melodies and tapping out rhythms with my hands and feet. Instead of the bland and unimpressive sounds that were previously there, I was immersed in a deep pool of modulating guitar effects and atmospheric sounds. Listen to current single ‘Butterfly’ for a perfect example; the rhythm and melody sit on top of a dreamlike swirling of sounds to create a melancholy yearning quality that explodes into a well chosen single that is likely to result in radio airplay.
Treana Morris’ vocals define the Wire Daisies’ sound, and no song exhibits them more beautifully than the acoustic-guitar-and-voice arrangement of ‘Billy Boy’. It is a gentle voice with a slightly breathy quality, that can’t fail to sound sexy. It took me a while to realize exactly what it was that Morris’ voice reminded me of, but eventually it came to me: The Corrs. Perhaps it’s the Gaelic heritage of both bands (Wire Daisies being of Cornish origin), perhaps it’s just coincidence, but whatever it is, her vocal style is reminiscent of The Corrs. Whatever your opinion of Morris’ vocals, they are used to maximum effect throughout the CD; hauntingly beautiful in tracks such as ‘Billy Boy’ and ‘No More’, sorrowful and yearning in ‘Make Everything Change’ and ‘Butterfly’, powerful and determined in ‘I’m Your Woman’, and everywhere gentle, fluid and complimented with pretty harmony.
The CD starts with the soon-to-become familiar polyphony of guitar, percussion and effects-based sounds of ‘Make Everything Change’. This is a powerful melancholy pop song, a style fully explored by the Wire Daisies, perhaps over-explored, you’ll begin to think as ‘Everyman’ takes the place of ‘Make Everything Change’. This is a similar style of song, pretty guitar hooks work to fill the space between one verse and the next. At around three and a half minutes into the song, you might start to wonder which track you are listening to. I certainly found that the similarity in styles between the first few tracks began to bore me, even on my fourth and fifth listens. The first three songs are all well-produced, outstanding examples of how to write a melancholy pop-song, but by this time you’re beginning to wonder whether Wire Daisies are merely a one-trick pony.
‘Butterfly’, at track 4, again falls into the melancholy britpop category, and perhaps some listeners would turn off here. However, if they stick it out, they are rewarded with the middle of the album, which, in this reviewer’s opinion, is the strongest part. First you find the variety of rhythm in ‘Truth That Hurts’. The acoustic guitar sets the rhythm at a slightly faster tempo than the previous four tracks, and in just this, manages to create an interest lacking in ‘Everyman’ and ‘No More’. Although, at nearly 5 minutes, it begins to feel that perhaps the rhythm has been overdone. Next comes ‘The Great Outdoors’ and it’s fantastically bluesy and soulful brass introduction. Just by the inclusion of this introduction, ‘The Great Outdoors’ has already made itself a standout track, and it only gets better.
Title track ‘Just Another Day’ is the song where the Corrs sound is most evident. A soft and gentle acoustic guitar verse is combined with a happy chorus proclaiming ‘It’s just another day..’ Treana Morris doesn’t care. It’s just another day. This is the Wire Daisies telling us that shit happens, telling us to get over it and cheer up. A slightly hypocritical message, in my opinion, if you listen to the rest of the album. Next is comes the beautiful ‘Billy Boy’, which strikes me as the soundtrack to sobering up; it’s six am, what seemed so funny under the influence suddenly doesn’t. In fact, the entire album would fit neatly in the ‘late night CDs’ category of anybody’s collection.
Just as the listener’s heart rate has dropped to just above the point they’d usually be declared clinically dead, the drum intro of ‘I’m Your Woman’ jolts them back to life and the chunky overdriven guitars and powerful vocals arrive to show you exactly how Wire Daisies can diversify themselves. It is my belief that this victory song should be the next single. Its choppy chords and simple countermelodic guitar work would be perfect for radio, and its dynamic variety allows the full range of Wire Daisies sounds to be exhibited in the one song.
The final two tracks ‘Come Winter Time’ and ‘Clearly Now’ return to the style of the opening tracks, but after hearing the middle songs, especially ‘The Great Outdoors’ and ‘I’m Your Woman’, it somehow doesn’t sound so clichéd. At around eight minutes duration, ‘Come Winter Time’ is the most experimental track on the album, and anybody would be forgiven for believing it was the end. But no, ‘Clearly Now’ begins with the pop-ballad drumbeat and vibrato chords of the comedown track at the end of the CD. Seeing as we didn’t get particularly high listening to this, it could leave the listener on a downer, despite it’s happy message of high hope.
In short, this is an album that requires persistence, but is well worth the time.