{"id":10807,"date":"2020-02-18T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T05:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=10807"},"modified":"2020-02-20T12:44:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T12:44:18","slug":"the-dowling-poole-see-you-see-me-369-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=10807","title":{"rendered":"The Dowling Poole \u2013 \u2018See You See Me\u2019 (369 Music)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There were a couple of recent(ish) episodes of the superb YouTube series \u2018Produce Like A Pro\u2019 that featured Roger Joseph Manning Jnr talking with the host Warren Huart about how Jellyfish recorded their wonderful \u2018Bellybutton\u2019 and \u2018Spilt Milk\u2019 albums. Within each of the enthralling episodes (a must-watch for music nerds everywhere, trust me) Roger revealed how the band would always go back to one other band\u2019s music to sense check if what they were doing was right – and if it\u2019s good enough for them it\u2019s good enough for us kind of thing -and (spoiler alert<\/strong>) that band was the greatest band to ever come out of Swindon, XTC.<\/p>\n

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So, what the hell has this got to do with the third studio album from Willie Dowling and Jon Poole I hear you ask? Well, Jellyfish and their influences are exactly the right place from which to start this review, not least because \u2018See You See Me\u2019 opens with a title track that welcomes the listener in like some long lost friend of the masters of 90s bubblegum pop, a band who introduced a whole new generation of us to the delights of Supertramp, The Beach Boys and the Raspberries amongst many others.<\/p>\n

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Where The Dowling Poole perhaps now have the slight edge on Jellyfish is that they have almost three decades of new influences that they can channel into their songwriting and that\u2019s why whilst \u2018The Product\u2019 might sound at times like an in his prime Elvis Costello its comes complete with a haunting Rialto (remember them?) like harmony vocal refrain and sounds just like the guys had Missy Elliott helping out behind the desk. It really shouldn\u2019t work, but by God it does.<\/p>\n

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Likewise, \u2018Keeping The Stupid Stupid\u2019 has that Marilyn Manson patented march as a backbeat but over it, Dowling and Poole sounds more like the modern-day Squeeze, and without a doubt things are certainly very cool for these cats.<\/p>\n

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Then there\u2019s the white soul of recent video\/single \u2018Hope\u2019 a song so fantastic you could just imagine Robert Palmer or Prince having it on one of their mega Platinum selling records. In fact, it\u2019s a song I\u2019d love to hear Jarle Bernhoft get to grips with one day. Now that really would be one hell of a collaboration.<\/p>\n

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Elsewhere \u2018Made In Heaven\u2019 suddenly has me looking for the Andy Partridge co-write credit on the press sheet, and \u2018Human Soup\u2019 has me thinking that The Dowling Poole might just be the ideal support act for Crowded House\u2019s UK return this summer, and at the same time \u2018Alison\u2019s Going Home\u2019 suddenly makes me want to go dig out those classic Head Automatica albums all over again.<\/p>\n

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Lyrically on point throughout the album, there are those who will argue that politics (however subliminal they might be) should be kept out of music, but when the songs are as joyous as those contained here on \u2018See You See Me\u2019 you\u2019d have to be a total moron not to appreciate the social context in which these tracks are being written. Oh, and for those of you thinking \u201call he\u2019s done here is reference other bands in his review\u201d, just look at those bands, XTC, Jellyfish, Elvis Costello and Squeeze. I\u2019m sure that\u2019s a quartet of artists Willie Dowling and Jon Poole won\u2019t mind sharing some review space with.<\/p>\n

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So, with their former Wildhearts bandmates justifiably receiving plaudits galore for their \u2018Renaissance Men\u2019 album, \u2018See You See Me\u2019 whilst an altogether different beast, is every bit as great as that record. The million-dollar question I suppose though is will you be brave enough to make the purchase leap when it\u2019s released at the end of February? Go on I dare you – and who knows – perhaps in just a few years\u2019 time we may be watching Willie and Jon doing their very own \u2018Produce Like A Pro\u2019 webisode, because to my ears \u2018See You See Me\u2019 is absolute powerpop genius.<\/p>\n

Buy ‘See You See Me’:\u00a0Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n

Big Cartel Shop\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n