Play 90 second soundbite of 'You Said' @ 'CD quality'
Multi-instrumentalist Flowers hits hard and true with this album of finely crafted mature pop songs, educated pop, pop with focus, with a point. Flowers writes story-telling pop that occasionally moves slightly towards rock and indie but manages to remain accessible to all-comers and people of all musical persuasions.
Flowers writes with conviction and delivers his songs with confident reality; this aint banal pop, this aint trite, this is the big-brother of pop music. Recorded in Lannie's garage and with a glorious hint of lo-fi home-production that only adds warmth, 'Same Old Story' is, believe it or not, (and here's the but...!) a thirty-six track walk-in-the-park. Yes, thirty-six tracks, nothing over three minutes, only track one over two minutes, it's a really strange trip through Lannie Flowers' quirky but passionate musical mind. Short, sharp songs that only just get started when they come to an end - but in their short life each one is charming and very likeable. Flowers allows the listener to decide whether these are actually thirty-six individual tracks or whether each one is just one small part of the overall, 'Same Old Story', story suite! Actually, the track listing reads like a very modernesque, thirty-six line poem in itself - strange stuff!!
Lannie Flowers reminds me just a little of Elvis Costello, he has a knack for coming up with concise but entertaining songs that get the job done in short-time, no bull-shit, no messin'!! However, the concept here is quirky, almost unique and some might find it hard to get-on-board with what Flowers has done. If, like me, you like a good lengthy song to get off on then 'Same Old Story' might just prove to be a suite too far. What's done is done though and Lannie Flowers has taken a big risk with 'Same Old Story'; his concise tracks might prove to be a stumbling block for many - but, there's will still be takers who see this work as something altogether innovative and rewarding in its form. 'Same Old Story' by Lannie Flowers pushes hard at the bounds of conformity and acceptability - it's a brave work and I believe only time will tell if Flowers has got it right or not!
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