Willie Dowling said in an interview with GRTR! last April that the Dowling Poole would look to release EP’s/new songs as opposed to a full album and possibly collate these on an album for release at a later date. To date the band have released three EP’s featuring new songs. Each EP features a new song plus two live songs from their 2016 acoustic shows.
‘Deep Breath’ is the latest one and the title track is a take on the state of the world right now. The duo of Willie Dowling and Jon Poole again manage to marry a serious lyric will a blissful pop melody. The two live songs are ‘A Kiss On The Ocean’ (sounding like Madness at times, but better) and ‘Paper, Scissors, Stone’.
‘Bright Spark’ features one of the rockiest songs the band have done to date featuring lots of guitar and a driving drumbeat. The live songs are a rousing rendition of ‘The Sun is Mine’ and ‘Where The Memories Fester’.
Finally we have ‘Miles Checks Out’, again a dark lyric backed by a jaunty melody and the music ebbs and flows in the verses, reminded a little of XTC around their ‘Apple Venus’ albums. Live wise we can have a sing-a-long on ‘Saving It All For A Saturday’ and ‘Getting A Licence’.
These EP’s you can get from the band’s Bandcamp page and each is well worth having. The album may be a dying art according to some, however good music like this needs an airing and if EP’s/downloads are a better bet for musicians then lets support them. Looking forward to the next new musical instalment from the Dowling Poole. ****1/2
Review by Jason Ritchie
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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Power Plays w/c 7 April 2025
SEVEN BLOOD To The Unknown (indie)
FROM FALL TO SPRING Incomplete (Arising Empire)
POP EVIL Side Effects (MNRK Heavy)
ERJA LYYTINEN Abyss (Tuohi Records)
SKY VALLEY MISTRESS Too Many Ghosts (New Heavy Sounds)
Featured Albums w/c 7 April 2025
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)
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