(Walnut Tree Records, 2011)Opening track “German Treasure Island” has a slightly off-kilter time signature that never becomes jarring but instead lends itself to the sense of frustrated urgency in the lyrics and frenetic guitarwork. There’s a strong Incubus feel to the way singer Joe Wallis sings “gold and silver,” American inflection and all. “Running With Scissors” begins with some serious bombast and is the song that best demonstrates the great live band GFT are. “God Made Colours” is jolly nice and sounds like Elbow and fellow Oxfordians Cat Matador, but the song ends so abruptly that it feels a little half-baked. The problem with GFT is that they wear their influences more than they demonstrate their own unique charm; it feels like there’s a formula being very closely followed. However GFT are good enough to create their own formulas - hopefully in time for the next release.
[Originally published in Oxfordshire Music Scene, issue 14]
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