And So it Begins, with Morrissey and Marshall

London based Irish folk-rockers lay down their weary tune...

And So It Began available now on Independent Records Limited 8/10

Darren Morrissey and Greg Marshall met in 2007 and have been gigging solidly since then across Ireland and the UK, since moving to London in 2012 they've secured a number of key support slots and generally putting themselves about. In doing so they've picked up some strong notices with many praising their song writing and harmonies. Indeed with harmonies this strong it would be easy to forgive Morrissey and Marshall for leaving the songs at home. Indeed when you can make the telephone directory sound positively melodious (assuming such things still exist), you could argue that it would be a waste to go the extra mile on the tunes themselves. Luckily Morrissey and Marshall arrive on the scene with just enough memorable hooks to support the case that this is the beginning of something exciting. The comparisons with Simon & Garfunkel and particularly the Everly Brothers are obvious and inevitable but neither do they flatter to deceive, there's something genuinely special here and it's worthy of investigation for anyone who's enjoyed the recent folk rock boom. First single 
I've Got a Plan has the potential to do well, indeed one hopes it will because if there is a criticism here it's the possible lack of a follow up single. While as previously outlined the song writing 
is strong on this release, the album is, due to deft production and performance, greater than the sum of it's parts. Closer High and Low feels a little too much like someone attempting an acoustic cover version of the Arctic Monkeys and despite the big finale it doesn't quite come off - it's no coincidence that this is the one track where the harmonies are largely absent. Despite that, Morrissey and Marshall have crafted a solid and mature debut album and one that deserves wider exposure, they have the voices to carry them above the noise of what is a pretty crowded scene at the moment and by the next album I think they'll have their own identity more clearly defined. From there anything is possible.

www.morrisseyandmarshall.com

COMMENTS