Rating: NNN
For their sophomore album, Beady Eye – Liam Gallagher’s band of former Oasis members, sans Noel – enlisted the production chops of TV on the Radio member David Sitek, whose presence is felt from the off.
Flick Of The Finger blasts with horns and an eerie passage from British-Pakistani writer Tariq Ali’s Street Fighting Years, setting the tone for an album that aims higher than the predictable rock of its predecessor.
After that, it gets hard to distinguish one song from another, though Iz Rite and I’m Just Saying have enough riffy, retro spunk to be memorable. Sure, there are lots of Manc rock chants of “Come, on!” and pretty tunes like Start Anew disguise lyrical mediocrity. But the album definitely grows on repeat listens, with Don’t Brother Me scratching at what the Gallagher brothers’ most classic songs inspired in terms of emotional pillow-hugging, and a spacey instrumental conclusion that provides a nice finish to all the straightforwardness.
Top track: Don’t Brother Me
