It’s taken Davey
Lane several years and some shuffled line-ups, but
finally his own baby
has been born. As well as being guitarist for Australian
classicists You Am I, Lane is now the proud parent
of the Pictures debut album, Pieces of Eight.
It’s been worth the wait; by releasing several
rough-as-guts demo EPs and then a few mega-hooky
radio singles (some of which appear on Pieces
of Eight, some of which do not), it’s given him
time to grow both as a songwriter and a singer, to
the point where he sounds confident on his vocals
throughout the duration of the Pictures’ debut album.
And boy oh boy, he sure can sling the axe.
The guitar solos come thick and fast throughout Pieces
of Eight, but they’re held down by a big bottom
end from bassist Luke Thomas and drummer Johnny
T, who lay a nice bed for Lane to do his thing.
What is pleasing about the album is that it very
rarely gets too obsessive with his guitar prowess – these
are pop songs first and foremost, from the swinging
singles “Pissin’ With the Catman” and “Tell Me
Something I Don’t Know” to the very Stones-y ballad “All
My Ties”. It’s in this respect that Pieces of
Eight reminds most of fellow Melbourne three-piece
Even’s similarly solidly tasty debut, Less is
More.
Like that band, there’s a swathe of melody to be
found on the album, plus a heap of great guitar solos.
Teaming with producer Greg Wales has given the Pictures
a straightforward guitar rock sound, and it works
well. The band are certainly talented, and Pieces
of Eight is a tight, punchy debut release. Whilst
Davey Lane ain’t no Tim Rogers in terms of sheer
songwriting ability, no one expected him to be. He’s
most certainly a man standing with two mates on the
Pictures debut disc.
