Mama's Gun - The Life And Soul
Review by Jack Foley
THE sophomore album from Mama’s Gun is neither as funky as its PR suggests, or as rock-driven.
It boasts a couple of standout tracks, one great cover version, and a lot of indifferent offerings.
Overall, though, it underwhelms. And that’s disappointing from an LP that promised to deliver moments of Queen-like rock with soul and funk nods to James Brown and Stevie Wonder.
In fact, the Queen-like rock is really only captured in their storming cover of Bicycle Race, which ends the album on a high. You’d be forgiven for thinking Freddie Mercury had risen from the grave, even if the guitars are less Brian May-like.
The James Brown-like funk is achieved on the gloriously retro, and downright dance-floor baiting Rocket To The Moon, which finds Platts’ vocals stretched to some glorious falsetto highs (a la Jackson 5).
While Only One, a duet co-penned with Beverley Knight, is as sassy, soulful and sophisticated as you could hope for… the mix of vocal styles working well in tandem with each other, and the vibe still funky enough to get you dancing.
But these are the definite highlights and the remainder of the album struggles to deliver as many highs. Rather, there’s a sense of indifference about much of it, perhaps because I’d been expecting more out and out funk.
Album opener Reconnection is a decent enough start, but when an album promises cuts to rival the greats, it’s also disappointing to find that even then it fails to quite achieve those heights.
Maybe it shouldn’t have aimed so high.
Download picks: Rocket To The Moon, On A String, Only One, Bicycle Race
Track listing