Marwood

One Mile Down the Road

(Feckless)

Record Review by Amber Henson

The songs on Marwood’s One Mile Down the Road sound surprisingly familiar.  They have that sound where you say, “I’ve heard this,” or “Didn’t this song come out a few years ago?”  And this isn’t in a negative way, like they’ve stolen someone else’s sound.  It works the same way as, say, “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall; it’s just instantly classic.

Sometimes Marwood will sound a little country, even though frontman Benji Rogers is from England (although you’d never be able to tell just by listening).  Mostly, they have an accessible pop sound somewhat reminiscent of Counting Crows.

The subjects of the songs are pretty standard:  missing his girl, how hot his girl is, please tell me my girl loves me.  “Just the Same” is an interesting song about coming home after a long time away, and finding that your girl is just the same as you remember her, but you’re sure that you’re not the same as she remembers you.  As one is allowed to interpret lyrics how they like, I assume this song is about a soldier coming home from war.  No matter the original meaning, I’m sure it will resonate with anyone in that situation.

One Mile Down the Road is a mix of rockin’ songs, ballads, and one acoustic track of the single.  Here, as it is in most cases, acoustic also doubles for “play the song slower.  “Nothing Good to Show For It” is about the need to “quit this job ‘cause I’ve got nothing good to show for it, except you.”  I would imagine he wrote this before he got the job of being a musician.  That’s always the interesting part about debut albums.  They’re usually all about the life that the rest of us non-musicians lead: having a job that sucks, falling in love with someone who’s not interested, so on and so forth.  Depending on how successful that first album is, the second album is often about how you have so many different things you could do with your money, how weird fame is, and how you can get anyone you want (see: The Streets and many second rap albums).

Well, given the pleasant nature of One Mile Down the Road, I’m sure we’ll be hearing about Marwood’s new bling bling soon.