The Savings
and Loan is a curiously-named band from Scotland who released this self-titled
EP in 2007. Singer Martin Donnelly is a
vocalist from the Nick Cave/Fearghal McKee/Matt Berninger school of singing so
this is perfectly pitched for a good old mope.
The EP is
bookended by These Hands and Those Hands, effectively the same song in two
short versions, the latter being slightly more exuberant. Introducing the album is Andrew Bush’s
(or possibly Donnelly's) plaintive acoustic guitar playing, while Donnelly croons “good evening friends
and welcome in, to broken skin on broken skin”.
Swallows has
well-worn guitar picking which to any student of Morrissey etc will sound
instantly like you can’t believe you haven’t heard it before. The Virgin’s Lullaby is slightly more
Cave-like, all brushed percussion and distorted vocals. Catholic Boys In The Rain is in a similar
vein, introduced by a recording of Scottish poet Tom Leonard reading a list of alcoholic
drinks, appropriate as this track will remind some listeners of Irish band
Whipping Boy.
After the
sweet-sounding Her Window and the glacially-paced Met (A Storm) the EP ends
with the crescendo (relative to the rest) of Those Hands, with drums and even
electric guitar. Much of this material
ended up on their debut album proper, Today I Need Light, released in 2010 but
this is a very promising EP. It’s not
hugely original and Donnelly and Bush sound like a pair of undertakers but they
get this sort of thing SO right. It’s
available for free download from http://thesavingsandloan.bandcamp.com/album/the-savings-and-loan-ep
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