Alex Gavaghan - "Binman In Love" (Freaksville Music)

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blues

Recorded with long time studio collaborator Keith Thompson, Binman of Love is The Cubical lead guitarist Alex Gavaghan's fantastic debut solo effort.

In contrast to the telecaster blues mayhem of the aforementioned Liverpool five-piece, the songs held herein are on the whole more melodic in essence and hark back to the frantic early days of Merseybeat and the dreamy balladry of Dion, Shannon, Hyland and co.

The album gets off to a flyer with the tongue in cheek country assault of Ice Cream Man and the harmony infused twang of The Miller, before the sumptuous and undeniably brilliant title track kicks in.

From then on, there is no let-up in quality as Gavaghan takes you on a journey from electric to acoustic and back towards the record's blistering finale and the fuzzed up garage pop of Hi-Vis Kid.

Although admittedly featuring "the odd song about fit birds" (the gentle Lay Down Your Head and I'm Going Nowhere), a lyrical eccentricity also cuts through the record; there can't be too many albums around with songs about drug dealing ice cream men, hi-vis jacket wearing kids, Dirk Kuyt, dams, and, erm, the self-pluralisation of fish species.

With only one track significantly passing the 3 minute mark (the glorious Velvets-esque Gone With The Morning Sun), brevity is the order of the day with the whole lot coming in at just over half an hour.

If you dig the well-crafted pop of the 50s and 60s and like your tunes with a healthy dose of reverb, there ain't much to dislike here. In fact, you'll fucking love it.

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