The Verve's Little Brother?
Remember the 90s kids? That's where Rob McCulloch currently resides. He came from Bolton, which is where Vernon Kay comes from, and Richard Ashcroft, so that means he must be good right? Actually I think he might be related to the later, long lost twins, separated at birth, although Rob is only 19 and Richard is um.. old, but the influence is definitely there.
Overall the album harks back to the glory days of Brit Pop, if you can't afford to buy the back catalogues of Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Verve and The Charlatans then go and buy 'Thoughts Alone'. But if you already own Urban Hymns and a couple of Oasis albums then you've probably already heard everything that Rob has to offer.
Don't get me wrong, musically 'Thoughts Alone' is pleasant enough and listenable; you could buy it for your gran and she'd be happy, apart from the odd bit of good natured swearing, you could imagine hearing 'Beauty Inside' on a jukebox in your local.
Rob's voice sounds a lot like Richard Ashcroft, infact I'd suggest that if his career doesn't take off he could always make a living in a Verve tribute band. He obviously knows his limits and doesn't try and reach any high notes or change his vocal style. The guitar work is clean and helps to complement the overall mood of the songs and the guitarist is obviously quite accomplished in his fretwork, although he's no John Squire.
Lyrically songs deal with love, life and so on, nothing particularly inspiring, and a lot of the time you can't quite make out what he's singing, but that's fine, it doesn't really seem that important.
The stand out track is undoubtedly 'Taking Off With You', if you heard the violin intro on the radio you'd think The Verve had reformed to release a slightly inferior version of Bittersweet Symphony. The song is great, but the Richard Ashcroft comparisons are completely unavoidable and distract you from what could have been an outstanding single.
'Thoughts Alone' seems a bit of a shame really, if this was released in the early 90s Rob would have had an instant Top 20 hit, but now it's all been done before, and most of the time a lot better. The production seems a little shoddy in places, with mixes sounding cluttered and odd screaming noises in 'Let It Go' making you want to wince in places. If Rob spent less time trying to imitate other people and more time coming up with an original sound, he could go far, he's got an abundance of songwriting talent but this album just lacks originality.