Carrying the endorsement of Tyketto’s Danny Vaughn, THIS HOUSE WE BUILT are an immensely promising quartet from UK with a confident, summery, melodic classic rock fueled style which self-titled debut CD “This House We Built” will leave you grinning from ear to ear.
It’s incredible THIS HOUSE WE BUILT is still unsigned, but that’s about to change very soon. Although self-finaced at present, the production on this debut CD is awesome, top notch.
A 10-tracker packed full of expressive songs plenty of vitality and most of all, originality. They remind me of – at places – Tyketto, Firehouse, at others, Kip Winger circa “Thisconversationseemslikeadream” or the pop/rock savvy of Harem Scarem, Venice or Colorvine.
This is one of the best independent releases we heard this year… and You’ve seen it first at plotn08
This is one of those albums that makes you sit up and take notice. THIS HOUSE WE BUILT started to get together during the first lockdown; Scott Wardell decided that it was time to start over again in his musical career, he got some ideas together and called up a few musician friends. The band are Wardell (lead vocals, guitars), Andy Jackson (vocals, guitars), Wayne Dowkes-White (bass) and Oz Ward (drums, vocals).
Opener ‘Fairweather Friend” is a great Rock song that has both spoken and sung lyrics; the chorus is very catchy with tasty guitar breaks. The vocals are very reminiscent of Jon Bon Jovi’s. ‘Nobody’s Fool’ is American Rock at its best; an excellent tune that conjures up cruising in an open top car in California. “Dead Man’s Shoes’ is a first-rate song; it has a great guitar riff.
‘We Are, We Are’ is a superb track, introduced with the band chorally vocalizing, well…. ‘We are, we are’. Straight after this, the guitar picks up that choral melody, and plays the lick until we hit the first verse, which is a mix of funk (predominantly down to some top bass from ‘Dowkes’) with solid rhythm/drumming from ‘Ward’. As you can no doubt guess, the chorus is made up from that ‘chant like – call to arms’ opening, but with the band fully on board, it has a catchiness and get-up-and-go to it that only comes to fruition at this point – excellent stuff.
‘Fly Me Up To The Moon’ is a beautiful electro-acoustic song: I am lost for words to describe it, except that the song is sublime. ‘Walk The Line’ turn thing hard rock: Wardell said that it was influenced by Tyketto, and it sounds like it. His vocals are fantastic, and the guitar solo is to die for.
‘There She Stands’ is a slow to medium paced song: as with the rest of the album, the melody is very infectious. Here the lead vocals are performed by guitarist Andy Jackson. What we have here is AOR, but with an edge that the band produce at will, and there are elements of both on offer and then some. The chorus has an instant and recognizable hook, which gives it that AOR feel, as mentioned earlier – personally, I love that high melody and sickly sweetness, especially when it’s been this well executed. There’s more evidence of AOR influence at the beginning of the second batch of verses, as this section has been laid bare, allowing the track to wander even further into the oncoming AOR headlights. Things do build back up though, as we head into another and well-deserved chorus. The solo is inspired, as it is played over an exposed support, but ultimately, gives it a unique flavor, one that suits the song down to the ground. AOR / melodic rock at its best, in the Tyketto style – great tune.
‘Back In The Ring’ is the heaviest song on the album, providing great punch. Within seconds, this song is about as far removed (musically) from the last tune as you could get, that being fast, angst drive and most certainly in your face.
‘Old Haunts’ is a very short, but lovely slow song sung with a piano accompaniment. It strengthens around the halfway mark as there is a discernible change in the forcefulness of the vocal, which is further enhanced by the ‘shrill’ and ‘piercing’ support. Outside of the introduction of vocal power, the song stays loyal to the opening arrangement, as that high pitched piano part grounds the song throughout. A beautiful and simply put together song, but what a stunner.
The final track is “My Old Friend, an impressive song to wind up the album, featuring another terrific melodic chorus that you will be humming for days. Here we have another switch in vocalist, as Jackson fills the slot for the second time on the album. The tempo is unveiled through the drums, as a classic snare/kick drum combo is unleashed. This is just the pre-cursor, as a standard beat is brought out to play, which really activates the song and gets things going. Only a minute in and we have another quality slab of AOR on offer here, as the song moves with a determination, as power chords, synth and great support vocal all add some serious value to the track.
What more can I say about this album? It’s brilliant. It is so good to hear something fresh that varies from “the norm”.
“This House We Built” has its ’80s & ’90s influences, but updated and with a particular ‘own touch’.
Although self-financed at present, with this first album the band are constructing sturdy foundations for a future career. THIS HOUSE WE BUILT truly deserve to be very successful, and have one of the best debut albums of 2022.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Fairweather Friend
02 – Dead Man’s Shoes
03 – Nobody’s Fool
04 – We Are, We Are
05 – Fly Me up to the Moon
06 – Walk the Line
07 – There She Stands
08 – Back in the Ring
09 – Old Haunts
10 – My Old Friend
Scott Wardell (lead vocals, guitars)
Andy Jackson (lead & backing vocals, guitars)
Wayne Dowkes-White (bass)
Oz Ward (drums, backing vocals)