Finniston are Steven, Jolene, Andrew and Jamie. The fact that one of them is actually called Jolene should be enough to take them to country megastardom, were there any justice, but sadly they haven’t taken that particular musical route. Never mind. Instead, they’ve gone for a folk-tinged indiefied hotchpotch of styles, mixing up a wee bit of early REM with some of Ben Folds’ more sombre moments. A touch of Gary Lightbody (more Reindeer Section than Snow Patrol though, thankfully) and just a smidgen of your old man strumming next to the fire in a Shetland pub round it off. It’s beguilingly lovely in places, Steven and Jolene’s harmonies work nicely together, though increasing confidence will hopefully lead to more adventurous attempts in future. If there’s a criticism, it’s merely that over the piece it’s a little mid-paced, without really having enough dynamic to pull that off. However it’s perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon with the papers and a bit of Fair Trade chocolate, and you can’t say fairer than that, can you? Another Love Song is the pop choice here, featuring some truly excellent bop-bop-a-doos – frankly, it should be all over your radio.
