The World Of Mick - MICK I

Many and varied are the albums which cross the Blues Enthused threshold.  This week it’s MICK I (as in Mick One) by The World Of Mick, a combo put together by long standing session man Mickey Wynne, who has worked with the likes of Julian Lennon, Zak Starkey, John Entwhistle, and Georgie Fame.

Little surprise then, that retro influences are apparent right from the opening ‘Love Of My Woman’, a semi-acoustic, happy-go-lucky bit of skifflish rough and tumble, with some twanging stand-up bass and tickled ivories decorating simple guitar and drums.

Mickey Wynne does some woodshedding

There are more Sixties stylings on ‘Beautiful Thing’, ‘Northern Girl’ and ‘I’ll Always Be With You’.  The first of these is Merseybeat-esque bright and jangly pop, a bit slight, but with an appealing melody and some neat slide guitar from Phil Saatchi, plus some whooshing sound effects.  ‘Northern Girl’ is also Beatle-ish, this time in a gently acoustic mode, with a simple, pleasant melody and warm vocal, and interestingly mixed instrumentation that sounds to me as if it includes – I could be wrong – a harmonium.  ‘I’ll Always Be With You’ is folkier pop, based on picked acoustic guitar and accordion from Anja McLoskey.  It’s a bit winsome, and its simple melody feels rather derivative, but it displays a good sense of harmony.

Accordion is also in evidence on the most distinctive song on the album, ‘French Blooze’, contributing to a very Parisian musette feel.  It’s an atmospheric piece, with a distant, distorted vocal, a rippling guitar line that drifts from foreground to background over more stand-up bass, and a spoken French voiceover delivered in rumbling fashion by Patrick Bergin – yep, the actor who once played Robin Hood, who also adds some minimalist harmonica.

A couple of songs, ‘Don’t Be A Prisoner To The Past’ and ‘Free Ride’, add Celtic folk touches.  The former is ushered in by a tasteful vocal harmony intro, then strolls along on a loping bass line and strummed acoustic guitar, with more accordion from McLoskey and some satisfying fiddle embroidery from Glenn Somerville.  The latter adds some synth embellishments to the mix, and is enlivened by the electric guitar and drums.  But as pleasant as these songs are, they ultimately feel a bit tame.

A couple of tracks make use of snippets of the American comedian Bill Hicks talking about changing the world, “exploring space, both inner and outer” and such like, though to what purpose I’m not sure.  The first is ‘La Troc’, a gypsy folk-ish instrumental on which acoustic guitar and fiddle are joined by a thumping beat and clacking wood block, to good effect.  The second is ‘All Quiet’, which starts off with just acoustic guitar and distinctive, restrained percussion as the basis for semi-spoken vocals, before drums and electric guitar kick in to up the ante.

The stronger songs include ‘Fooled By You’, which with staccato vocals over guitar and pedal steel from BJ Cole warms up into something energetic with competing voices on its refrain, and ‘You Are The Message’, which ticks along on a pulsing backing track, with the electric guitar motif creating some urgency.  And the closing ‘Twin Flames’ similarly stands out with its yearning feel and a controlled, switchback melody, making use of nicely blended voices, and an elegant electric guitar break.

MICK I is neatly assembled, with occasional touches of Jackie Leven-like quirkiness, and ‘French Blooze’ in particular has a certain je ne sais quois.  But it could do with more of those sparks of the unusual to give The World Of Mick a stronger, distinctive identity.