Bateleurs "All In The Past"
Acoustic duo debut with their roots showing
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Wiltshire based acoustic duo Bateleurs debut with this short, sharp collection of roots-pop, following their well received 2010 EP ‘New Day Rising’
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Sean Amor and Daryl Ball share lead vocals and their strained, gritty melodic timbres compliment each other well in a kind of home-spun harmony, and also stand up solo as they take in a variety of acoustic roots forms. Their finest moments here are when they steer the folk ship clear of any shores marked maudlin or earnest, and indulge in their talent for Jaunty roots pop tunes.
‘Two Steps Back’ is a simple perky pop song lifted by some percussive drive. The anxious melodies on the subdued, if still jangling ‘Permanent Winter’ could be the album’s understated high point. Similarly a blatantly Dylan-pilfered chord sequence on ‘The Girl With Cartoon Eyes’ lays the foundation for their best Petty-esque rock number.
Lining up their other big influences, ‘Ghosts’ has Mike Scott’s shadow looming large over it, with its swirling attractive folk-rock mix of violins, mandolin, and telling “I went down to the river...” passages. Elsewhere the agreeable clip-clopping country of ‘Go React’ is Jayhawk-esque in the extreme in its melodies and harmonies, and there’s rarely been anything wrong with that.
Bateleurs’ songwriting and performances are solid and enjoyable, though often signposting glaringly obvious destinations from their own record collections. ‘All in the Past’ naturally takes in so many catchy variations of their theme, that they could easily appeal to a lot of people.
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