Beady Eye - First Listen, First Reaction

Beady Eye (composed of the members of Oasis minus Noel Gallagher) posted their first track online for free download today. Opinions on "Bring the Light" appear to be mixed, nothing unusual when it comes to Oasis. Just as predictable is the nature of the criticism: it's not "relevant" (what does that that even mean? There are so many musical styles being thrown around as the new zeitgeist that the 50s style showcased on "Bring The Light" could be as relevant as the folk, goth and synthpop throwbacks some critics are lauding as the cutting edge); "Too reminiscent of The Beatles," a terrible cliché that should be chalked down as self-parody when used in any Oasis review; bad lyrics - this I would half agree with. I think they're fairly bland rather than bad, but at the same time I wasn't expecting Shane MacGowan lyricism. The lyrics fit the mood of the song, but I'm interested in this particular track for the music rather than the words.

The song is an urgent one, kicking off with a wholly unexpected driving piano that confirms Liam Gallagher wasn't lying when he said some of Beady Eye's output would be influenced by Jery Lee Lewis. It's energetic for the most part, until a bridge section toward the end that I would liken to late-60s Elvis, female backing vocalists and all. One criticism aside from the lyrics is that the energy of the first verse isn't really sustained. Maybe it's the shock of the initial listen, but the exciting kick off isn't maintained as the song goes on. An enjoyable listen on the whole, different from Oasis and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the album holds up upon release.

Note: Strange opinion of the day must go to the NME who briefly refer to the obvious 50s rock 'n' roll influence on the song before going on to describe it as "krautrocky" (!) - I'm struggling to see the, say, Tago Mago homage here aside from possibly the prominent percussion, but to call any song with noticeable drumming "krautrocky" is taking the use of musical buzzwords way, way too far.