Gentle Hen—Wink

The last time I reviewed Gentle Hen, they were playing under a different guise, School for the Dead, which isn't totally surprising, seeing as I haven't reviewed them in something like 20 years. Coming back after so many years, hearing them is somewhat comforting.

Those words reverberate nicely with the track "Comfort Zone", which introduces the album. Vocally, and I can't remember if I mentioned it in the earlier review, they remind me a lot of They Might Be Giants. The track is bright, but the vocals have that natural, upbeat and happy tone.

There's a 60s tinge to the guitars on "Slow Day", but that period is only touched on. This is bright pop, driving down the highway with your arm out the window. Not that I'll be doing that for a while, as Autumn is well and truly extinguishing the warmth, but I think you get my point.

There's something about "Best Day of Our Lives" that feels very familiar. Even the title is virtually the same as the Modern Romance track from the 80s, covered by the Baha Men and featured in the Shrek movie. Maybe, to some degree, I'm conflating the memory with the title. That said, I do get a SpongeBob vibe, similar to the track "Best Day Ever". The track itself has that infectious beat and equally infectious chorus. This is most definitely a track that is destined to feature on a soundtrack.

It was "Let's Stay Up to Watch the Sunrise" that I featured recently in the podcast, as it was a single release from the album. This has a more contemporary pop feel, but is no less enjoyable. Again, the chorus is happy and upbeat, and this is certainly an album so far that you can't help but feel turns frowns upside down.

There's a tonal shift with "Somewhere Out of Sight". I was going to say it's darker, but that doesn't quite explain it well enough. It's not like the track takes a sombre, downbeat turn, but the instrumentation certainly has more of an 80s guitar-band feel.

And that tonal shift continues with "We Lost the Thread", which indeed has a darker sound. The track is also more laid back, with the vocals slower and more deliberate. This track allowed a deeper appreciation for the music, which has always been good, but here it became a little more immersive, allowing a greater appreciation for both the guitars and the drums.

With an almost ska beat, "Seaside House" is one of those infectious songs. Simple in its beat and lyrics, but combined, it's just pure pop magic. It gives faint remnants of Madness, that magical British band who started having hits in the 70s.

"Face Blind" returns to a more rock sound, for me reminiscent of the later Byrds stuff. For some reason, the vocals just didn't connect. It's almost like they were shoehorned in afterwards. Musically, though, this song rocks. The guitars at times give a Who vibe, as do the drums around the two minute mark. I think, as this track is so strong musically, it's likely it would continue to grow on me.

With a more 60s sound, "You're Not Anywhere" has that more simple construction, but as is often the case in situations like this, I think less can be more. It certainly has a nice vibe, though I think it's very much an album track. The closing country and western vibe will, I think, be a matter of personal taste.

The They Might Be Giants comparison I alluded to earlier is abundantly apparent in "One Joke", certainly in the vocals, which feel much more front and centre. The song is a fairly medium paced track, but still manages to surprise with some interesting diversions, like the Harrisonesque guitar and slide guitar around the halfway point. The tail end of the track also has a more whimsical feel.

I can't say "Ready to Go" was really able to enamour me. There's just something about it that feels a little plodding. The guitar work is probably, for me, the high point.

The album closes with "Parking Lot" and its almost Native American drumming. It feels very much like a band signing off, and I think it's a nice way to bring proceedings to a close.

While I loved the vast majority of tracks on this album, I did feel that it needed the occasional vocal shift. To some degree, that was addressed in "We Lost the Thread" and "One Joke", but for me they were outliers, and maybe even then didn't go far enough. The vocals are very similar throughout the album, and while that's fine for each individual track, when you're listening to the album as a whole, I did feel a little vocal fatigue. There's a few artists like that and, again, I think this may be that cultural shift where albums are pretty much consumed at the track level, rather than the album level, so for those people, that wouldn't be an issue.

That being said, a wonderful release, with some really great highlights.