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Review
27 May 2002

This fiery foursome has been scorching a trail across the rock stages of Cape Town and will be appearing further afield in the next few months. The question with this their 10-track debut album is, does it capture the energy and passion of those live performances? The answer is yes, and more. If you liked them live, then you'll love this album, and vice versa.

Kelvin Declined are Guido Helm on guitar, Justin Tee on drums, Neil Poynton on bass and keyboards, and Mark McCree on vocals and extra guitar. McCree is the focus of the band with his wiry, ginger intensity and bravado. But the band's skilled and diverse rock attack masks McCree's vulnerable lyrics that mostly arise from that emotional grey area between the unsatisfactory ending of a relationship and the aloneness of the aftermath - eased considerably by the prestige and promise of being the frontman in a rock band. There's the rollicking crowd favourite 'Standing In A Bottle' with its 'standing in a bottle, living in a can, waiting for the phone to ring' singalong chorus, and 'Drugs Me' whose alienation and groaning bass resemble the Beatles' 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)'.

But don't be deceived, this eponymous album (is it so hard to find a title??) is a strong and rocking piece of work (take a bow Jürgen von Wechmar at Sunset Recording Studios!). Kicking off with first single '42', whose first line - 'We want friends we can undress' - clearly lays out the band's non-musical ulterior motives. 'Stan 229' takes its slow, complaining verses into full-on yelling choruses in a most seductive way, and 'Funky Chicken' is a solid rock groove with its '70's 'wakka wakka' guitars.

So Kelvin Declined have latched on to a winning formula - irresistable radio-friendly rock tunes with a vulnerable but cool-and-tough core, as best illustrated by the wonderful 'Girls In Black', which is surely the next hit for this red-hot band.

[Stephen Segerman, SA Rock Digest]