I am going to declare an interest here. I have known Picture The Sound for quite some time. I am from the same neck of the woods (Ballymoney area) as some of the band and I have shared a stage with the lads on occasion in the past. I like them, I like the songs they write and I like their sound. It’s a sound straight from Manchester circa 1995, so the band’s strength is admittedly not its originality, but they do have an ear for a tune and in Chris Peacock they have a singer with beautiful tone and delivery. I could listen to him sing all day long quite frankly.
The band does tend to get sidetracked at times. Trying to be a jobbing cover band in the local pubs and clubs and focus on original material and be judged on that material is a difficult tightrope to tread; not one I am convinced the lads manage to tread all that successfully. But then I know how hard it is to keep 4 or 5 guys organised and focused on music if there is no money coming in, and with original bands it is usually more a case of money going out most of the time and a succession of non-paying gigs. Difficult then to resist the ‘easy’ money (I know it’s not easy) of the cover band circuit and the enjoyment of having a receptive audience. Most musicians I know who do both have a different name for their original band and their cover band. That Picture The Sound don’t do this is no biggie really as long as it doesn’t confuse the punters as to where their heart lies.
But with 2 new members to supplement its founding members (Johnny Wallace, Peter Baird & Peacock) in Alwyn Evans and Paul McClelland, perhaps new life has been breathed into the band and a new-found enthusiasm for writing original material. I hope so, because the songs they write are well worth a listen. I wouldn’t say ‘Our Little Dream’ in particular will batter down any A&R man’s door, but what I AM saying is, if you like the sound of it, you will like the band’s back catalogue and well, did I say ‘Big Time Charlie’ was a great song?
Check ’em out. Give ’em a like and give them the encouragement to stay ‘original’.
Sadly the band don’t have soundcloud or bandcamp so you’ll have to listen to the track via their facebook page.
