Ironia present their own take on 80's style soft metal. We've listened to the twelve tracks on CD "A Granite Scale" a number of times, and enjoyed them on every play through, but would offer a warning that this is something which will appeal to a very particular audience. Each track is different enough to differentiate Ironia from the competition - the tracks "Chemical Moses" and "Underground Stealing" start us off with a more traditional rock feel, and then we find ourselves listening to "Song of Parting" which is a lot softer and more melodic. Then, just as we get used to that, we're given "Shepherd of Eagles", which, frankly, reminds us of the sort of inoffensive rock used for eighties films such as "Electric Dreams" in order to garner a wider audience.

At times reminiscent of the band "Extreme", Ironia have no problem in effortlessly strumming through those early 80's rock guitar solos as if they've been doing it all their lives. We particularly enjoyed the jazzy bass guitar, which was pleasently different. We got the impression that Ironia are perhaps trying to be a little metal, but only in the very loosest sense - remember Bad News?

We liked what we heard, and we heard it several times. The lyrics are included in the case, which is always a bonus (why don't more bands do this?), and there really isn't anything to give away the fact that this is not a big name, well known band from a few years back…

The band appears to originate from Ironia, NJ, so no surprises with the name - and probably no surprises with the style either. At KlubKat, we tend to get a lot more diverse sounds from America than our own country, and this is by no means a bad thing, but we find it a shame that British listeners are so stuck in the modern charts. There is something seriously special about the Ironia sound which really deserves to be appreciated, so we urge you to give it a go. On the other hand, if you already have a collection of soft rock albums then this should be next on your list of must buys. Especially if you have a big perm…

Flook
http://www.flook.co.uk

Oh boy, do I like this. Why? Because it's different. I want to chill out in a barn, pretend the last century didn't happen, and just let all those repressed hippy tendencies come flying out…

Flook is extremely hard to describe, unless you've seen them live (as I have). They are quite at home sitting in a barn playing instruments you've never heard of which were popular hundreds of years ago (The line-up consists of Sarah Allen on Flute, Whistle and Accordion, Ed Boyd on Guitar, Bouzouki and Mandolin, Brian Finnegan on Flute, Whistle and Bansuri, and John Joe Kelly on Bodhran), at speeds which defy belief. Anybody who thinks they can play a flute should see Flook play live, and then you will seriously have to reassess your ability! If theres a record for speed-playing a flute, these guys should have it.

Imagine a slightly medeival sound played in a relaxing setting. Picture ladies in long dresses dancing around in a circle, drinking red wine from goblets, and you've got the idea and the era. You don't have to be hippy-minded to listen but it helps! The music brings to mind green fields and sunny days, and that can never be a bad thing. And in case you think I'm being a tad overdramatic here, I should point out that KlubKat were lucky enough to catch Flook live in a barn in Suffolk last year, and that just about sums them up nicely…

The musicianship is nothing short of excellent, if you are at all open minded you will be astounded by this music, but because it is most certainly folk music I can imagine many people closing their minds and running in the opposite direction. Please don't do that - forget all your preconceptions of folk music and visit the web site. You may well change your tune (if you'll pardon the pun).

Monette
Considering the religious overtones on the jacket, and the original email we received asking if we would like to review Monette, we were expecting serious gospel here. This is something we don't have the pleasure of sampling that often, so we slipped the CD into the player with a mixture of excitement and trepidation…

Instead of gospel, we were treated somewhat unexpectedly to a mixture of soul, jazz and swing. Slow, sexy music, complete with sexy sax. The CD we listened to, "Don't let a Day go by" has been around for a while and has probably been superceded by now, but if this is a good example of the way Monette is going then we are more than happy to recommend this artist.

"Don't let a Day go by" is background music for romantic candlelit dinners, and to be used as a soundtrack for detectives in old movies. Quite why these things go together is anyones guess! It is, as my colleague puts it, music to get jiggy to, which is ironic considering the solidly religious lyrics. In fact, this is a point worth emphasising - The lyrics are seriously gospel, but the music is going in a totally different direction. Perhaps Monette is trying to garner a larger audience by diversifying the sound - it certainly works for us. As to the singing, well what can we say - it's everything you would expect from this genre… very good indeed.

So you think religious music is all about boring hymns and sitting on a hard wooden pew on Sunday mornings? Think again. We enjoyed what we heard, and it was certainly not what we were expecting. You don't have to have any particular leanings to enjoy this - it's mellow and just plain music to chill to. It's not going to convert anyone, but it may well introduce a few more people to the genre. You could easily imagine hearing this on the radio…