A band name can tell you a lot about the kind of music you’re going to get. The Ramones were a family (well, a made up one, anyway), The Queens of the Stone Age rock hard, with a twinkle in their eye, and with And So I Watch You From Afar, you just knew that something epic was on the horizon, hulking and unwieldy, but raw and full of electric energy.
With main-man Rory Friers’ new side project Beach Comber, that name gives away so much of what you’re going to hear. Appropriately enough for a record that was made in a little farm house off the North Coast of Northern Ireland, there’s something tidal about this music. It ebbs and flows, it sparkles and it shines. These songs are like objects half buried in the sand, catching your eye as they reflect the sunlight on a crisp and clear day.
Taking a break from the day job, the sound of Parting Cuts is predominantly acoustic. Indeed, maybe ‘organic’ is a better word, with rustic sounding tones and melodies colouring a collection of songs that is deceptively simple on first listen, but reveal new layers the longer you spend in their company. The most obvious touchstone would be the rural delights of Mercury Rev’s 1998 masterpiece Deserter’s Songs or Broken Social Scene’s unassailable You Forgot it in People. Occasionally, on tracks like ‘Kicking Back in Saquerama’ or ‘South Pacific’, hints of the ASIWYFA grandeur and intricacy creep in, spindly guitar figures taking you on a journey. But for the most part, these songs are simple and direct, plainspoken and emotionally resonant.
Friers’ voice isn’t the most expressive tool in his arsenal, but he makes it work, knowing its limitations, and how to use them. He’s not going to win The Voice any time soon, but frankly, he doesn’t need to.
Ultimately, as a diversion from his work with ASIWYFA, Parting Cuts is a satisfying listen, but it wholeheartedly stands up as an album in its own right. And for anyone who is alienated by the complex and labyrinthine guitar architecture of ASIWYFA, this is a perfect showcase for an incredibly talented musician that will no doubt leave plenty of listeners praying it isn’t a one-off.