Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
There is the sound of the low down and dirty, the irresponsibility of youth that we all secretly adore as they go out with guns blazing and an attitude in which once past a certain age can wither and die like a leaf under-nourished by the autumn sun.
That attitude, unless nurtured and cared for soon turns to reasonable stance, it no longer frightens or bemuses, it sits polished and in a three-piece suit and the only anger it displays is one of slight annoyance of having to get up at six in the morning to catch the train into town. There is no more youthful music anarchy to keep others on their toes, unless we allow it room to grow and smoulder, for in the music they offer, we learn and remember the disgruntled views we once had and how comfort has made our outlook one of arguably un-principled opinion.
For Sky Valley Mistress and the four songs that make up the tight packaging that surrounds the single Smoke Fairy, disgruntlement comes in waves of joyous and well positioned anger. In Kayley Davies’ forceful vocals, what the listener is given the impression of, is a woman who has seen more than her fair share of fake wannabes and people who talk the talk of a good Rock record but for whom undoubtedly couldn’t tell the difference between a Dave Mustaine guitar solo and a dog being carried around in handbag as a fashion accessory.
In Smoke Fairy, the fire is lit and a partial declaration of war is announced. The skirmish is one that is not unlike a musical civil war. The beast of a song so rampaging that it reminds the listener of what was once important and how to feel in tune with the underlying anger that filters across the divide between generations. The songs might well be just the conscious decision about looking between the blurred lines of who is what and the judgement of a single item of clothing but it is underneath the whole point of raging against a fashion statement intended to deceive. Like a politician wrapping the hands around a subject they say is dear to their heart and then seeing them sell it off bit by broken bit, some people cannot be trusted to really say the truth of the matter.
With a radio edit of Smoke Fairy included alongside the song Wishbone and the superb She Is So, this introduction to the band is more than stirring, it is a possible reason for enticement. Grand and gorgeous, Sky Valley Mistress shakes a discerning fist in a rage that can only get more interesting.
Sky Valley Mistress perform at Studio 2 on Parr Street on March 13th.
Ian D. Hall