The Jewel And The Falcon EP

The Jewel And The Falcon are the latest vehicle for Sarah Kelly of theredsunband and Patrick Matthews of Youth Group. Prior to Youth Group, Matthews first came to attention as the glue that would hold early Vines shows together. While Craig Nichols writhed around in his own tantrums and sqwarked garbled nonsense, Matthews was the one who took things seriously, delivering solid basslines and – shock/horror – actually sang the correct vocal melody.

Matthews steps up to take lead vocals on several songs here and though he doesn’t have the strongest voice in the history of recorded music, it’s inoffensive, pleasant, and ideally suits the gentle and uncomplicated nature of the songs. All six songs on the EP utilise the great vocal blend of Matthews and Kelly to a dreamy effect. Kelly presents like a less-bland Blasko; with small tinges of that terrible ‘stray-yun’-istic vowel formation kept to the background.

It’s only on Lucky that the guitars start to twist and grind a little more, shaking the listener out of any daydreams they may’ve drifted into about what they may need from Coles on the way home from work. Indeed, more songs in Lucky’s vein would break up the pleasant monotony. Fans of either Youth Group or Red Sun Band should know what to expect and certainly won’t be disappointed with this. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of either, but for a debut EP, it’s a classy start. And next time, more guitar-terrorism please.