Wonderful acoustic pop mixing XTC and The Beatles with some folky touches.
author: Pete Goldsworthy
A superb offering from Swindon's best band since XTC. The album reflects their surroundings: gritty urban lyricism surrounded by rolling pastoral tunes.
The opening tracks, Welcome To Our Garden and Ideal Meal, sum up the overall feel of the album; great pop tunes with lyrics drifting between disillusionment and hope. Wheatsheaf introduces the folky feel to the procedings and is followed by Wish Hound, a track that wouldn't be out of place on XTC's English Settlement. Towards the end of the album, Tumbleweed is a drifting, rambling instrumental that relaxes the listener before Window Shopping brings you back down to Earth with a bump.
If you're wondering about this album, buy it now, your curiosity will be well rewarded.
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Essentially English, West Country acoustic brilliance
author: Grant Meaby
Homeground is just about the finest example of English acoustic rock available anywhere today.
12 brilliantly crafted quirky, lyrical, haunting harmonies that reflect the bands own Homeground, Swindon. Comparisons to Swindons other finest, XTC are inevitable but don't be mislead, other influences abound, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bragg, a real eclectic mix resulting in something unique and refreshing and often moving.
Welcome to our Garden and Wheatsheaf set the scene early on while Watching Water and Hide & Seek made the hair on the back of my neck tingle and induced tremendous feelings of nostalgia for the old West Country from which I myself hail.
If you thought acoustic guitars can't rock then think again.
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It's not Billy, but its the next best thing. Recommended
author: Pete Johnson
If Acoustic Guitars are your thing, you’re fed up with the Crows failure to release anything new and now that Billy Pilgrim's 'In the Time Machine' is permanently out of stock, you could do a lot worse than invest $10 and 45 minutes listening to Homeground.
Homeground presents 12 competently arranged tunes, all with their own appeal and all finding that fine middle ground between the raw acoustic and the over-orchestrated.
From the upbeat complexity of Ideal Meal through the wonderfully rambling Tumbleweed, to the simplicity of Wheatsheaf and my personal favourite, Watching Water, Homeground is mature, educated and enjoyable.
With a raw edge that reminds of the Finn Brothers before they sold out, Homeground has that ‘hand made in the country’ feel that brings the best out of the acoustic sound.
It's not Billy, but its the next best thing. Recommended.
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