With the help of friends Nigel Clark (lead singer of classic Brit-pop band Dodgy) and Darren Finlan, Englishman Tony Cox has put together an 11 track debut full of sweet surprises. Fans of classical power pop influences (Beatles, Beach Boys, Bryds) will find a goldmine of melodic pop here. The production was recorded at Hijack Studios and has a clean updated style, unlike some musicians, I’ll bet Tony did not play these songs on vintage instruments. “Sweet Elaine” has a simple pop structure draped over a “Heroes and Villains” styled baseline. This is followed by “Feel Real Love” and it has a Dave Clark/Cliff Richards approach, with horn accents and driving drum beat. The superb “Fallen” has a great melody, like a sunny Revolver-era Beatles track. The modern pop of “Sacred Woman” is another standout here, with a rich multi-tracked chorus and “Chills” showcases Tony’s vocals which remind me of a young Ian Hunter. It has a few missteps, the 80’s styled “Life is Hardcore” is filled with heavy synths that seems a little out of place on the album. And the production suddenly gets very sparse on the second half, which hurts some excellent songs, like “Say The Word” which really deserves a big wall-of-sound type treatment. I sometimes wondered how some of these tunes would sound with a bigger budget. Someone should give Tony that chance, as he’s got great song craft talent. Tony is not signed to any label, but shows you the wealth of riches some record companies need to pay attention to.
I bought this album from amazon after reading a shining review elsewhere, and must say I thoroughly enjoyed it, with many of the songs already set to become summer driving anthems on my travels. I certainly hope Tony gets picked up, as it will be a sad day for pop if another cracking album never sees light of day.