England?s Sean Robert Chambers is the man behind the music of Talking Trees. The piece of paper I read as I placed the cd in my player mentioned the Byrds and Beau Brummels as reference points, but although Chambers? tastes are clearly rooted in ?60s psych-pop, the sound I heard was more evocative of the ?80s Paisley underground bands take on that sound.

I have to own up to getting off to a bad start with Revolation: a few seconds into the opening track, I was annoyed by a really unpleasant programmed snare sound. This man clearly has good taste in guitars and amps (Rickenbacker 12 string played through a Vox AC30 etc), but some of the rhythm tracks here are letting his music down and giving it the feel of demo recordings, rather than finished work.
As for his songwriting, there?s a wistful melodic quality which is, perhaps, informed by Pete Townshend?s Who songs up to Sell Out, where toughness and vulnerability came together in such an effective way. These are memorable songs delivered by a voice which is, at times, reminiscent of Edwyn Collins.

It pains me slightly to be over critical of music which is clearly as lovingly crafted as these songs by Talking Trees. However I do feel that some work on the drum programming sound or even ? dare I say it? ? using a real drummer might raise the overall effect to a higher level. 6/10 -- John Cavanagh (18 June, 2008)