Album Review: Go for Glory – The Prime Ministers
These cats The Prime Ministers have been around for quite some time, it seems, having taken on different shapes and sizes dating back to the late 90’s, when the band’s original core (then known as Sensitive Clown) was dropping catchy rock nuggets. The fast forward button brings the timeframe to the summer of 2004 for the release of The Prime Ministers’ Go for Glory CD.
The one thing I can’t seem to get out of my head is Todd Wicks’ voice. Throughout these 10 songs, Wicks rails out on the songs with a raspy voice that I couldn’t duplicate after a carton of cigarettes and a fifth of whiskey. Coming from him, though, it sounds strong and natural, and it actually gives the album as a whole a sense of unity.
The collection of songs that make up Go for Glory are understated, to say the least. There are no massive guitar flare-ups, no screaming piles of vocal tracks, and no train wreck rhythm section explosions. In place of those modern rock staples, The Prime Ministers offer up 10 well written, conservatively performed songs that carry weight in their musical modesty. The intensity that drives “T-Minus Whatever” doesn’t come via fancy production work or a melodramatic crescendo – it comes from nothing more than the sheer inflection of Wicks’ vocals coupled with a tight track that uses restraint and subtlety to build interest. The eternally catchy “Makin’ Up” comes off like the pop-rock equivalent to a 50’s doo-wop ballad, with the fluid lead guitar riff (courtesy of former band member Peter Dean) acting as the track’s modern day tremolo. “Bored-Again Kristin” is one of those dormant pop songs that didn’t seem like anything special until the chorus was still stuck in my head three days after my first handful of listens, while “Rock & Roll Wife” is a more than capable ballad.
If there’s a downside to Go for Glory, it’s that after ten songs, the disc does seem to run together a bit. However, the band’s material is so well put-together that this hardly seems like a problem at all. The Prime Ministers have released what amounts to a seamless album. Now, as a disclaimer, I should note that the laid-back pop-rock approach of Go for Glory obviously isn’t for everybody, as this collection of songs could very easily be described as ‘dry’ by someone who’s used to more ‘active’ pop music; however, for the folks that still believe that a solid guitar pop album can be carried by solid, no-frills songwriting and capable performances, this is the disc to pump from the stereo this summer. – Gary Blackwell