After commencing his musical endeavours in early 2014, Nick Aslam has since gone through a few different monikers on his route to asserting himself as a prominent Singer/Songwriter in the busy Northern(ish) scene. Sticking with the ‘Rebel City Revival’ suffix, his latest offering highlights a broad palette of melodic abilities.
Who is this Nick Aslam then? He’s a hungry young songwriter hailing from the darkest depths of a council estate in Burton on Trent, and he’s been ensnaring a steadily growing following since his debut. The rest of the band currently consists of Jack Thorp (Lead Guitar), James Dixon (Bass), and Danny Alton (Drums).
Influences, heroes, and personal music icons consist of a celebrated bunch, ranging from the likes of the Gallagher brothers and Paul Weller, to KISS and Led Zeppelin. Indeed, in some of Aslam’s cleaner acoustic tunes, Noel’s influence is very prominent, with a prime example being ‘The Worlds End’…
‘Clowns n’ Guns’ introduces itself with a foreboding and simple series of bass notes, and an accompanying salvo of clean, bouncy guitar tones. This concise greeting builds anticipation, something which is also attempted by Aslam’s complex lyrical structure; establishing internal rhymes with the bars of the song is a tricky feat, and while the song manages to adhere to this structure, the lyrics themselves suffer slightly as a result. You can easily understand what was intended here – but I’m afraid the allowances made for a flowing barrage of lyrics do detract from the narrative coherence of the tune. But then again, not every track needs to tell an intricate story, hence this point is a minor one.
