Demos

The Wishbones - Demo

Owain Paciuszko 18/12/2008

Rating: 3/5

The Wishbones are a Plymouth based band and they are, in many ways, similar to a number of acts that have come from the South West of Britain. Opening with a banjo there's, to begin with, a certain - obvious - The Boy Least Likely To feel to the sound of 'With You', it's upbeat and optmistic and the other band members creep into the tune with subtlety. It's a summery start archetypical of a coastal upbringing and clearly advertises as a folksy, laidback band with influences of roots, reggae and funk; much like Cornwall's Rootjoose.

'Watching Lies' has a distinctive country flavour, and lead singer Sam's vocals falls close to 'One Hot Minute'-era Anthony Kieldis and the track as a whole bares some - albeit barndance warped - resemblence to that album's 'One Big Mob'. Final track 'Take Hold' with its slightly-ska beat is very reminiscent of many of the bands on the South West music scene; it's a track you can imagine reverberating from a bar on the beach as the sun goes down in late-summer, which is a bit of a cliche, though the track - to some extent - is a touch too familiar.

The Wishbones are a competent band with some good ideas and the first two tracks here are pretty good, suggesting an array of influences wrangled together with skill, whilst track three ends up feeling like a Reef B-side.