The Gig Monkey Review
My expectation for Mike’s debut solo release lay on the side of disorderly acoustic tunes, much like you get from his acoustic folk-punk troubadour live persona. Not so however - this crashes to life with the almighty racket of a fully amped up band blasting their way through roughhewn punk tune Bowsers Castle. Cider is more what I had anticipated being as it as a live staple, but here the homage to adults’ apple juice and its booze friends is pumped up, chaotic and tumbling.
It then all starts to go a bit strange as next we get the quieter parts of an Evanescence tune, gothic and reverb drenched, followed by an overwrought acoustic guitar and flute number, another folk punk drinking tale and another bawdy rock band number telling the story of Mikes old bands and University days. Viewed as a whole this makes for disjointed and puzzling listening, and gives the listener the desire to force him to sit down and pick just the one direction of travel.