𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 – this week: Stone Tongue (feat. Drew Nold) – Sparralimb

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙉𝙤𝙡𝙙) – 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗

Charles gives you three wishes…

You know that game where you pretend to rub the lamp, and a genie gives you three wishes? Ya know, hypothetically speaking, where people say the three things they most want or wish for? Well, what is the one thing that almost always comes up? And no, you can’t wish for more wishes. What is the wish that is wished the most? The one that comes up with pretty much every rub of this no doubt gleaming lamp? A Ferrari? An incalculable sum of money? Heroin without the side effects? Nope. I think you’ll find that the wish most wished, is…….. “Oh, I know. Cheaper train tickets!!!” – … Errrmm… No, not quite. Weirdo. The answer is…… “Oh, I know! Something that stops cows farting because that’s apparently bad for the environment!” – Riiiggghhht. No, you’re not really there. This person is insane. The answer is – no, don’t interrupt, you’ve had too many tries and they were ridiculous. The answer is, peace on Earth. Yep, that old chestnut. I am absolutely sure this is the most wished for thing when playing this completely pointless game. Pointless…? The wishes don’t come true, you see. You have been duped! It was all a lie. But why is it that so many wish for this? Well, the main reason is because Earth is such an unpeaceful place! But the other reason people wish for peace on Earth, is because people wish for peace on Earth. That is “what you do”. It is not because most people are saints. Like when someone asks how you are, and you reply “Fine, thanks. You?”… You quite possibly don’t actually wish to know the howabouts of this person (they’ll lie anyway), but it’s just what we do. I suppose one could call it manners, but I think it’s more automatic habit (manners).

So, let’s just say we had a real lamp with real grantable wishes. Say someone wishes for peace on Earth… The lamp starts to wobble. It starts to shake and bounce so erratically that you feel the need to place it on the table. It’s juddering all over the place, doing a little Ian Curtis dance. And then it calms to a pause. It lets out a puff of smoke like a sigh. The smoke spells something in the air (Alice in Wonderland style)… “ERROR”. Apparently peace on Earth is beyond its limitations. It turns out this is because it is impossible. Peace on Earth…? p’HAH!! This would have to mean that every single person in the world is capable of getting on with every single person in the world. It would also assume that no one in the world is selfish. Basically, we would have to stop being human. And NO one wants that, right? Humans are tricky, fickle creatures. They are also often hypocritical. I say “they”. I should be saying “we”. I am a human; you are a human. But I’ll stick with “they” for no apparent reason. They are susceptible to the views and opinions of others, but they are also often selfish.

Peace on Earth is considered a “perfect world”. But in being impossible (and possibly a little bit dull), I wish for there to simply be a modicum of balance. Enough peace for the world to function. We all have too many differing opinions for a perfect world. But I always wonder, how many of those differing views are their own? Humans can be manipulated all too easily. The problem with this is that an argument between a person and a person, can grow into a fight between many people and many people. And before you know it, you’ve got a fully fledged war on your hands. And NO one wants that, right? The other reason that peace on Earth is not possible, is because sometimes there are powers that are just too strong. Too strong, too arrogant and too selfish. Are they perhaps blind to other people’s needs? I think they rather simply care more about their own needs and wishes than those of others. It is not about blindness. It is about selfishness. And so, the good are so often bashed down and forced to do what they are told. These people continue to live, but they’re not living their chosen life. And heaven forbid they actually speak up. I touched on various aspects of this in my song “Hands Up, Hands Down” (Parts 1 & 2). From all this, I can see that a perfect world is not really on the cards. But it is also not something that I wish for. Perfection for me is completion. Then there is nowhere to go; nothing to do. Besides, how could it even be possible while – to quote Jean-Paul (George & Ringo) Sartre – “Hell is Other People” (Part 2 being my latest single). Ahem. I will stop inserting blatant plugs and get on with things.

This week’s lucky artist is a band from Britain. I was sure they were American. Neither the Ewe-Kay nor the Ewe-Ess is at peace right now. But honestly, where IS?? Iceland, perhaps? Ignoring the odd volcano, of course. I mean, these places are not at war, but they’re certainly not all one big happy family. People are people. We’ll argue till the cows come home. I actually bet we’d continue arguing even after the cows are home and tucked up in bed, and well into the next morning. Peace is impossible universally, but we can at least listen to one another and be civil. We can learn to see and understand the other’s thoughts and feelings. That’s at least one step closer to agreeing to disagree. SO!! This band. It’s actually a band plus one. They do NOT have a new single out. They have a new ALBUM out! Please welcome Sparralimb and Drew Nold! I have no idea if the band’s name is pronounced Spar or Spare, and I have no clue as to what it actually means. Perhaps an old war veteran asking for help…? “Brother, can you Sparralimb?” – but I doubt it. What I don’t doubt however is their immense talent. For the sake of routine and “the way I do things”, I have picked Stone Tongue as the track on which to focus, but I guarantee you will all have different faves, and those will change with every listen of all 7 tracks. Stone Tongue is not really a fave so much as an example of the album. It is by no means “the good track” on the album. The whole album is a perfect world. Let me rephrase that. The album is called Perfect World, and its world is perfect. I think any one of these 7 could be a standout single – yes, it is that good.

Stone Tongue caught my eye (ear) because it has been newly plonked on the New Artist Spotlight playlists. But it also caught my eye (ear) because it’s brilliant. But then it ALSO caught my eye (ear) because of the lyrics. It seemed to fit with a feeling of late for me and many others. The lovely thing about lyrics in general is that they’re usually like so much in life: open to interpretation. Lesley Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows”, for example, could be conceived as being a song about a gay man who has struggled with skin cancer and diabetes. It was not in fact written with this in mind, but I can see that it’s an easy mistake to make. And I’m sure if enough people heard this rumour, it would become “fact”. But as to Stone Tongue, I take it to mean that the protagonist is not able to speak. That he is forced to silence, and that he must do what others say, and be how others wish. That he is being told to be a certain way, and that any other way is failure in his duties as a modern human. Terrifyingly communistic. But it makes for a GREAT song plot; and I feel its authenticity, deeply. I also love that not once in the whole song does it mention the words “stone tongue”. All of these wicked words were written and sung by the featured artist, Missouri’s own Drew Nold (explains why I thought they were American). Already this song has tickled my fancy, yet words are but one chunk of “song”. There is melody, and there is music. And cor-WUMPH, it’s all tremendous! While Drew has written and sung all the words on the Perfect World album, the rest is both up and down to the band. I say “band”, but it’s not really strictly a band. It is Rick Whitehead. He plays and writes ALL of the instrumental music himself. I might suggest that Drew joins Rick, and that Sparralimb becomes a band of more than one. But that is, of course, up to them. I choose not to dictate. Besides, I have not the right to dictate, and I have no authority in ordering them to listen! Quite right. Just an innocent thought from a humble CC in his C. Can you hear this sea of Cs in an ocean of buzzing bees…?

Musically speaking, I will broaden my scope to encompass the entirety of the 7 songs. While 7 songs might seem a little short to be called an LP, it simply feels right. It is too extended to be called an EP. I think I will call it an MP. Medium player. Rick has handled this whole record with such precision and originality that I can’t really fault it. Although he does have his own sound, each song is very different. This is undoubtedly a rock album, but it is not 7 modifications of track 1 (fine: 6, you pedantic so-so). Rick has taken from all sorts of artists, yet never stolen. This is called influence, conscious or not. It is something we naturally do as humans. Something we have done since the dawn of music. Probably. I wasn’t there. The trick is to not sound like a carbon copy or pastiche of any of them. For example, I keep being told how much I sound like The Beatles. While this is flattering, I can’t help but wonder if I am seeming to some like a photocopier. While I have no doubt been influenced by them, I can’t quite believe that every single song I release sounds exactly like The Beatles… But there you go. Perhaps another example of “if enough people hear this rumour, it becomes “fact””… Stop being lazy and – to quote The Beatles – “Think For Yourself”. I am hoping listeners of Perfect World can have their own thoughts and views on who it reminds them of, and any other thoughts that spring to mind (“good song good review” – £$%&@**!! – as it were). The influences I have heard throughout this stupendous album, are Radiohead, Interpol, Bloc Party, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, Muse and Nirvana. Plus several others that I can’t quite put my finger on. I even hear bits of NAS members Map of Autumn and Mal Fantome in places. Some of these will be influence, others will be coincidence. But the thing is, when you stick Rick’s marvellous music with Drew’s brilliant melodies, we have a perfect world of music, with perfect words to match. They are in harmony with each other.

After having listened to Stone Tongue, I urge you to listen to the entire MP (it’s only 27 minutes). I will leave the musical analysis to you in the comments. Believe me, if you like rock, this record will float your boat across this ocean of noise, and you won’t want to alight.

On the whole, I’m a gentle soul. The genie in me, however: rub me the wrong way and you might get more than you wished for…

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