Regular Columnists

Artist: Band: PB Ploy
Album: Clues from the Underground
CD Review: Be it 1955, PB Ploy would’ve been the band that you’d go and dance to, down at the local hall come Saturday night. Their beats are repetitive and render you helpless to the tapping of your feet, their lyrics are simple which means come the second verse you are ready to join in the chorus and their style is familiar, comfortable, eclectic. However what proves most interesting is PB Ploy is in fact not a they at all, but a he, a multiskilled rock-violinist slash singer slash songwriter, having gone solo in 2001. You can tell PB Ploy enjoys what he does, but in the absence of any visual stimulus or live presence - a smiling, sweaty singer full of life on stage, equally enthusiastic violin in toe - he falls short of producing a memorable record.

Not to say he is incapable of translating his enthusiasm to a recording, just others before him have done a much better, much more convincing job. PB Ploy fails to bring anything new to the rock n’ roll genre and this results in the tracks sounding more like a jam session and less like a performer that you want to have your own piece of. Rock n’ roll has too many legends to list and the influences are evident in PB Ploys music, namely Buddy Holly, the Beatles, early Elton John, though with nothing new to give his listener a covers artist is more fitting a direction for PB to explore.

But maybe I am taking PB Ploy’s purpose for recording an album too seriously. Yes, you are taken back to an era past when you listen to his tunes, and yes, tracks like "(Shaking off these) City blues" make you want to go on a roadtrip or surfin’ safari and maybe that's the objective. But unfortunately not even the presence of electronic instrumentation and competent harmonies give me the urge to put aside the classics for an extended listen to this compact disk.

I would happily dance the night away to PB Ploy given the right crowd a couple of cheeky beers and a venue to match, though this is where my recommendation of this artist rests. But don’t lose that enthusiasm PB Ploy. as this will prove the key to finding that point of difference that will separate you from those whom you admire, those that evidently influence the style of music you make.

You can visit www.quaggamusic.com for further information on PB Ploy or alternatively contact PB at songninja@yahoo.com