Artist: Steveless/Syd Howells
Title: The Happy Man Is A Contented Fool
By Conor Duffy
I'm always wary of anything with the word “Steveless” on the cover, stemming back to the almost certain damage done to my ears by their album Popular Music In Theory . This time they have teamed up once more with Syd Howells to create an album that causes equal levels of pleasure and pain for the listener.
Opener ‘Lost' sets the tone with a rolling monotone bearing down on you. Tracks like this and ‘Travelling Without Moving' give us an act that does not trap itself in conventional song structure, but prefers to bend and warp it into something else. The latter track reminds me somewhat of the Beta Band, it must be said.
In fact, the album is a lot more melodic than I expected it to be. Indeed, ‘Name Calling' even has something akin to a groove, while ‘Punch Drunk' exposes the dark humour of the group.
Even though the album isn't even thirty minutes in length, I couldn't help but feeling it started to drag. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in, or perhaps this is a collective that works best with short sharp shocks to the system. Maybe they're moving into a less extreme, more melodic sound. Or maybe they just want us to think that…