This is an archived post from our old website. Please excuse us if it looks a bit off, we are working through old posts and making sure they look tip top!
Having never seen Ten Foot Tom and the Leprosy Crooks live, I had no idea what to expect when their album, ‘People Like Us’, landed on my doormat. Little was I to know that I would end up feeling rather smug to have received a copy and rather gutted that I haven’t caught the live version – yet.
Tom Rice’s distinctive voice saunters nonchalantly over bluesy garage rock rhythms and jangly guitar sounds, reminiscent at times of Dinosaur Junior and Razorlight, to name but two, with lyricism evoking bittersweet realities of modern life. At the first listen, you’re quietly charmed; the second, nodding along, and by the third you feel like the songs are old, if slightly jaded, friends.
The album is a satisfying eight tracks long, and this band feel like a discovery you’ll want to share with your mates. I’m not playing favourites here because the entirety will be on repeat in my household for some time to come, but title track ‘People Like Us’ is mournfully beautiful, while ‘Saturday Night’ and ‘Liar’ both resound with angst and ennui.
The album packaging is also simply and classily designed, and the production quality is high – courtesy of Steve Hoggart at 27 D, Stockton. Now, a visit to one of their live gigs is on my Christmas wish list; you could do a lot worse than to have a copy of the album on yours.
Find Ten Foot Tom & The Leprosy Crooks on Facebook and Twitter as well as their website.
