Start playing guitar How to choose a guitar for beginners?
Alt Reviews

Half Star and David Moore and the Fachans Reviewed

Half Star and David Moore and the Fachans Reviewed

Half Star – White Frock

There aren’t a lot of modern guitar bands left with much self-respect. Making a fool of yourself isn’t restricted to manufactured pop singers. Just spare a thought, for example, for all the people in rock bands where the musicians are dressed up as monsters. Imagine putting on all that gear on a hot Summer day and going on to play to an indifferent festival crowd at noon. Not much to brag about there. 

What about the rock musicians cosplaying as bikers, Vikings, or henchmen to the devil and all looking like sorry B-movie actors in a horror production filmed in Eastern Europe for a budget of a few dollars and turnip? It can’t feel good to put that thing on your social media profiles. 

With so many playing a part, we risk forgetting about the musicians who went in hoping they could wrangle up some great songs, discover more of the poetry of life, and share what they’ve found with others. Those people probably have some original pressings of The Smiths records, and they’ll even let you borrow them if you ask nicely. 

Half Star’s “White Frock” is a marvellously tender, jangly indie-rock tune that calls to mind bands like The Smiths or Cocteau Twins, bands that meant a little more to their fans than simply serving as an occasion to dress up. Half Star’s lyrics are the main focal point, and they flow smoothly. The music feels like being asked to join a lord or duchess suffering from melancholy over tea. It’s lovely; it will have you thinking about it all week long and will get you off of the cosplaying rock bands for a while. 


David Moore and the Fachans – MacDiarmid MacCaig

Everyone who is in a band that’s likely to become popular, as well as all the pop stars recruited through a cast-in call, have to have a weepy background story. Truthfulness is mostly irrelevant. 

We all should know by now that, from television featuring pop goddesses to cool indie rock bands that just keep landing on the cover of magazines, most of these people come from rich backgrounds. 

That’s not something inherently wrong, of course. But the fact that their fans need to be convinced that the musicians really faced a struggle coming up says something about how we want to see our heroes. 

Few rock musicians care about tradition, the common man, or great tragedies. They could just as well be the accountants of millionaires. But not David Moore and The Fachans. On their single “MacDiarmid MacCaig” they wrestle with the idea that the working classes are always the first to get bad news and the first to pay the bill when things go astray. Musically, The Fachans bring to mind the independent rock bands of the 1980s, with a sound that is gritty yet melodic. I doubt they wrote this while being dropped from school by their private chauffeur. 

Half Star - White Frock

8.5

David Moore and the Fachans - MacDiarmid MacCaig

7.5

Pros

Cons

About author

Eduard Banulescu is a writer, blogger, and musician. As a content writer, Eduard has contributed to numerous websites and publications, including FootballCoin, Play2Earn, BeIN Crypto, Business2Community, NapoliSerieA, Extra Time Talk, Nitrogen Sports, Bavarian FootballWorks, etc. He has written a book about Nirvana, hosts a music podcasts, and writes weekly content about some of the best, new and old, alternative musicians. Eduard also runs and acts as editor-in-chief of the alternative rock music website www.alt77.com. Mr. Banulescu is also a musician, having played and recorded in various bands and as a solo artist.
Related posts
7.8
Alt Reviews

En-Vitro and Mister Sunshine Reviewed

7.5
Alt Reviews

Griffin Benton and Ethan Samuel Brown Reviewed

7.5
Alt Reviews

The Hypnatwists and Mooses Reviewed

8.0
Alt Reviews

The Holy Knives and Johnny & the Dinosaurs Reviewed

Be part of the Alt77 community

Leave a Reply