Standing head and shoulders above the rest, Liverpool based singer/songwriter Thomas McConnell has crafted a frighteningly good debut to fall into with his brand new EP Worried About Thomas McConnell. With a sixties-style heart that beats away at an unrelenting pace, this release spawns potential hits like they're going out of fashion. It's also floated to the surface of our attention that some of the tunes featured, have undergone a transformation since we last heard them. Now with twangly guitars, McConnell is sounding slick and accomplished.
The bluesy-rock sounds of Blame It On Rebecca introduce us to a chirpy opener that recalls elements of Elvis Presley's Blue Suede Shoes. It's a tune that drips into your brain and is wildly infectious. So far, so good. Penelope Definitely is one of McConnell's perhaps best-known tracks, although from the opening chords it's slightly unrecognisable - it could be mistaken for the start of The Smiths' There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, nonetheless it sees McConnell carve out a personality of his own (even if his vocals do sound like the woozy lovechild of Lennon and Gallagher).
Punctuated by the slower tones of John, loose vocals swirl and we start to feel a bit dreamy and detached, but it's nowhere near as good as previous material we've heard. Some might argue that it's the simplicity that lends itself to the track that makes it work, although the rest of us would comment that it's this factor that kills it. Finally, we're left with Just A Little Bit, Jill and McConnell's omnipresent trend for including names in track titles continues. Undoubtedly, this is the stand-out moment by far. Epitomising his retro charm, if John Lennon was still around today, this is what he might sound
like. Thomas McConnell has the tunes but does he have what it takes to crack the mainstream? Let's hope so.
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