Middle of the hill? More like middle of the road!
According to his press release, 'Feeding The Wolves' is a mini album, but most would probably term this three track CD (available to download from the 2nd October although not available for physical purchase until the 18th) a single, or at a stretch an EP. This rather pathetic attempt to look interesting and original aside, Josh Pyke appears to have had plenty of experience in the world of music. He has worked alone under the guise of Night Hour and with band The Empty Flight. A born and bred Australian, Pyke has had a measurable degree of success with singles 'Middle Of The Hill' and 'Private Education', both of which feature on this extravagantly-named 'mini album'.
'Beg Your Pardon' opens with lightly plucked acoustic guitars, accompanied almost immediately by Josh's vocals. His voice is not unpleasant, but neither is it particularly memorable – it has no unusual features and blandly carries the song along without any emotion. The song itself also lacks any standout points, or even much of a melody. It won't get stuck in your head all day, but neither will you want it to get stuck in your CD player. Second track 'Private Education' shows more promise, and it's not hard to see why it has proved popular in Australia. It isn't particularly special, and Josh's voice remains almost nauseatingly bland, but at least this track has a tune, and bouncy indie-pop guitars that can hide a multitude of sins. It's easy to imagine this song being used for an American TV teen drama show, and achieving high radio air-play – it may not be special, but it is a popular style at the moment.
Final track 'Middle Of The Hill' is as middle of the road as its title suggests. Here Josh tries to voice some 'gritty' lyrics but although they are far more inventive than those of the previous tracks they don't make up for the lack of originality displayed by the music. It's more repetitive acoustic strumming, more "bouncy" beat and even less melody. Which sums this mini-album up nicely. It isn't bad exactly, but it isn't very good either because in playing it safe all the way Josh fails to do anything that might make someone want to hear this music again. You wouldn't turn any of these songs off if they came on the radio, but you wouldn't want to spend money on buying a copy for yourself either.