"Never Gonna Touch The Ground"
18 June 2009, 09:00
| Written by Andy Johnson
(Albums)
Inclusiveness and being cliquey should be polar opposites, but like many polar opposites there's somehow still a fine line can narrowly divide them in places. Still Flyin's reggae-styled album Never Gonna Touch the Ground is one of those places. This is the sound of a band who come across as a tight unit not only as musicians but also as friends. Reggae is often all about creating a relaxed atmosphere, not only of instruments but also of personalities on record, and that's what Still Flyin' have really captured. Group singing, chant-like lyrics, studio chatter, talk of "dudes" staying together forever - it feels friendly and intimate, and largely, the band manage to keep it from going to the wrong side of the line. Occasionally the balance slips though, and there are a few little moments here that - in a not particularly bad way - are a tiny bit cringeworthy. Sometimes you can listen to this album and almost feel like you've intruded on something, a little private party to which you weren't invited it. Mostly though, the record does succeed in being relaxed, laid-back and inclusive. Still Flyin's frontman Sean Rawls kindly gave us his track-by-track guide to the album a while back, in which he likened the songs to having a progression like a party. It does feel like that - the first few tracks act as icebreakers, easing us into the band's world. The opener and title track is apparently the song which birthed the band in the first place and has the curious trait of including the band and album name in its chorus, and is a good example of that easing in. Things continue to warm up and become a little less run of the mill - "The Hottchord Is Struck" is a big step forward for the party, relying on the undying daft fun of spelling stuff out in songs ("H-O-T-T-C-H-O-R-D") for much of its appeal. All along one of the main themes seems to be making the most of life, as on "Haunted Houses" where the band proclaim they "can't wait to be terrified". It's the experiences, we seem to be reminded, that matter.Never Gonna Touch the Ground perhaps isn't quite the party album Rawls suggested, but it's an album of revelling in friendship above all else. It is fun and accessible, drawing you in with its broad instrumentation and group-sung, singalong choruses. Concise (at just over half an hour) and easygoing, Still Flyin' have put together an entertaining album here, especially for those with an interest in reggae.
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