Fufkin (Mike Bennett)

Power of Pop (Kevin Matthews)

(Phil Jackson)
Listening to Davenports music can be a bit like jumping into a vat of Finely ground flour with some sugar added. The music enshrouds you like a comfortable blanket with Scott Klass's vocals bordering on the angelic. Don't be deceived though, this is not soft pop! After all don't they end the album with a bonus track called 'Whore for the Holidays' where the good old acerbic side of Klass's lyrics give the music an edge, as always!

Indeed the music mixes humour and gravity in depicting characters obviously close to the artist's radar like the irritating 'Eric Grey' painted with a wonderful country laced shuffly beat and 'Annette O'Toole' with reference to Peter O'Toole's daughter I believe. There's also a song about a Melissa and a Daisy for good measure (Only Heather got a name check on their brilliant eponymous debut so there is definitely progression here!).

What makes music by The Davenports special apart from the songs being Really infectious are the ingenuous little touches like the quirky piano on the title track, the synth and steel guitar (Dan Miller of They Might Be Giants) on 'Avery Girls', the guitar that redeems the 'a little bit too trite' 'Everyone's Talking About Baseball', the strings on 'Eric Grey' and last but not least the horns on 'Daisy to Everyone'.

I greatly enjoyed The Davenports first album and still play it and I'm pleased to say that the musical canvas has broadened if anything. I'm not sure there's a song on 'Hi-Tech Lowlife' as good as 'You're On Your Own' or 'Five Steps' but I can live with that.

Comparisons if they are needed are with The Beach Boys, a little bit of XTC (on 'Melissa Now'), possibly Crowded House, while songs like 'You're the only Girl For Me' have a timeless Burt Bacharach kind of feel.

'Hi-Tech Lowlife' is an admirable record with intriguing lyrics and captivating arrangements that will get inside your head and stay there. Be warned!

OTHER LINKS
All Music Guide
Valley Advocate
Ink 19
Rockpile
MTV ASIA
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