Foot Squeaker - Pass It On (Creagh Records)

Rock music might strut about with its chest out, convincing itself that it is the toughest sonic kid on the block, and that may very well be true, but that power is nothing without poise, that muscle is boring without melody, that sonic weight is lifeless without dynamics and accessibility and infectiousness and groove. It is only when rock music is mixed and matched and melded and moulded by its exposure to other associated genres that it becomes something interesting, something special. Well, it does when it is found in the right pair of hands. Foot Squeaker, despite the strange name, are the right pair of hands…or three.

“Pass It On” essentially comes at you like a masterclass and operator’s manual for everything I have just posited above. From the gentle chiming folk-pop laced intro to the searing indie guitar onslaught, from the expertly positioned breathing space to the rock and roll crescendos that see the song over the line, it is a song with many sonic seasons, all of which fall naturally and perfectly into place.

As the adage reminds us, It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it and you could argue that such musical elements as wielded throughout the song are pretty familiar. But…and this is a big but, it is the ability to weave them together in the logical order, to be able to ebb and flow from one to the other, rising and falling to order, the balance of breathing space and sonic excess, groove and restraint, lyrical smarts and pop-aware accessibility, that is the difference between an effortlessly dynamic and brilliant sonic slice and a clunky also-ran.

“Pass It On” is not only the former but such a great example of such that this song should be taught in music lessons.

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