Towhead – Stranger in the Mirror
On a recent night out at Corporation in Sheffield I had the pleasure of listening to an excellent band called Towhead. They describe their music as Alternative rock with a Yorkshire bite, and that’s not a bad description.
A lot of Yorkshire bands cash in on the dialect whilst singing in ‘Yorkshire isms’, but in doing so risk becoming caricatures of the region they represent. To Towhead’s credit, they’ve skilfully avoided falling into that trap. Sure, there’s an authenticity about them, but there’s so much more to their music than you might first imagine.
Take a listen to ‘Stranger in the Mirror’ and you’ll see what I mean. It starts with Kieran’s guitar intro (mellow, loose and funky) leading to some nice vocals from Penny (Rotherham’s answer to Alanis Morissette). Penny has an emotive voice, perfectly suited to the band’s confessional style of song writing. Once the drums and bass kick in and the catchy as hell chorus arrives you’re completely hooked.
‘Stranger in the Mirror’ sounds even better live, with drummer Emma driving the beat – thrashing arms and flying hair like a demonic Dave Grohl.
To fully appreciate the breadth and depth of Towhead’s work check out ‘Elixir’, a song of hope and a brighter future and ‘Drown’ which the BBC should have chosen as the soundtrack to Happy Valley.
It feels like Towhead are playing live somewhere every week, so check out their Facebook page and see what they’re up to next. You’ll be chuffed t’bits.
MakeIt-Loud 