Ryan Malott & Kelly Thomas

Ryan Malott & Kelly Thomas EP

Written by: PP on 20/11/2009 19:01:16

I can't say I'm an expert in country rock, but then again who actually is? The genre's only popular in America while the rest of the world largely ignores it. Keep that in mind while reading this review of Ryan Malott & Kelly Thomas' self-titled EP, but don't write me off completely just yet, as I'm actually rather well acquainted with Malott's main band, the violin-driven country punkers 500 Miles To Memphis, who you might know for their awesome country rocker "All My Friends Are Crazy". The duo's other part Ms Thomas, on the other hand, comes from a more traditional country rock background, so what do you get when you combine the two upbringings together? Country-driven balladic pop rock, it seems.

So try your best to imagine Lynyrd Skynyrd style high-pitch guitar wails, a completely relaxed and unhurried tempo, and alternating male/female vocals per song, and you have Ryan Malott & Kelly Thomas. But what else is there to say about the songs? Not much, to be honest, because they're quite average. Every now and then Thomas' voice contrasts Malott's nicely, such as on "Easy Tonight", the best track on the EP, but for the most part the songs feel like cars running by you when you're sitting on a bus stop: you'll notice them pass but you don't really pay any attention to them. You can't fault either person for lack of singing abilities or their instrumental skills, but the songs just aren't interesting enough to make an impression. If you're a huge 500 Miles To Memphis fan, you might be interested in checking out how Malott does on a more acoustic and minimalistic platform (check out especially "Ready To Run"), but otherwise there are far better singer-songwriters with country-tendencies out there for you to be excited over: Chuck Ragan, for one.

6

Download: Easy Tonight
For the fans of: Country rock in a pop rock format, 500 Miles To Memphis
Listen: Deep Elm Records

Release date 07.09.2009
Deep Elm Records

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