Blaney - The Severance [Yerrrr Productions]

Released on November 10th, 2k17 via Yerrrr Productions is "The Severance", the latest album outing by Ed Blaney a.k.a. Blaney, a Manchester staple who has been sharing the stage with the recently passed Mark E. Smith in The Fall as well as being active in the one-off project Trigger Happy in the mid-90s. Starting into his ten track outing with the anthemic "Happy Return" which combines Wave / Indie-elements partly reminiscent of NO MORE in its slow sections whilst incorporating Alternative / Alt Rock and even Police'esque bits to a great effect we see the follow up "Feel The Rain" drawing influences from raw Garage Rock, "Bin Liner" brings quite a bit of Ska to the table and the albums title track "The Severance" gets us straight by the balls with its bluesy, yet anthemic Rock'n'Roll feel. With "Thinking Of You" we're getting more Ska-/Reggae-infused offbeat action paired with rocket-fueled high energy sections, "11007 Days Old" brings on a classic Blues ballad for thoughtful sunset moments on a lonely American beach, "Tessa" picks up on a similar vibe yet turns towards being a heartfelt love song indulging in epic harmonies and dramatic arrangements before "The 11th Man" revives a rebellious teenage (Skate)Punk feel that's reminiscent of the genres early days for sure. Finally being in "Blackpool" is a quite desperate and lost BluesRock affair that picks up speed dramatically and the final cut announcing "The Arrival" is more of an uplifting and positive take on Ska towards the end that will go well in a UK Reggae-dance as well. Check!

Album artwork on Instagram!