I’ve always thought that internet is cyclic. You start looking for something, you find something else that catches your attention, you look for other things and find them, you park them somewhere for later and after some time they come back. I got to know The Offbeat by reading some comments in a blog whose name I don’t remember, it arose my interest just enough to try and find some more information, and I found it in the friendly blog POWER POP ACTION (blog in Spanish, but you can find the comment in English here ), and in the group’s webpage , where I could listen to some tracks: Wasted, Blue Sky... I got a good feeling of POP songs, songs that bring back memories of holidays, green fields… it sounds trite I know, but well, it’s Sunshine Pop, isn’t it?
After some time I “chanced” upon two LP CD’s of the group, and this is when this particular Internet cycle ended.
By now you will have fathomed that this is not a “mod’ group, but when I like something I mention it. The Offbeat are not a conventional group, they are the pet project of Darren Finlan and Tony Coxx and Nigel Clark of Dodgy, both known in the British pop scene (the trio feature in Tony Coxx’s "Unpublished", 2009), who also feature in this "in love field" (2010) with 10 tracks that will inevitably remind you of the Beach Boys, the Beatles or Crowded House... Pop with a capital P; get smitten by the first song "She can make the sunshine" and let the rest of the tracks surprise you.
In fact this record contains five tracks already published in the EP "To The Rescue" in 2009, but it has been enriched with five more songs to become an LP, a duration which according to Darren Finlan can reach more people. The added tracks give some continuity to "in love field" and give you the impression of listening to a complete record created as a whole from scratch. In their webpage you can find tracks like "She can make the sunshine", "Blue Sky", "Something about the girl", "Someday somehow", which are in this record.
You can also find tracks from their previous work, "The Offbeat", 2008, composed together with Tony Coxx (six tracks feature in their record "Unpublished"), as "Wasted", "Lonely Girl" or "Keep it Real", where you can feel Darren’s touch. "Wasted" in particular is a very rounded song.
Both records are self-published, a very good reason to try and get them ‘legally’ and not with a miserly click.
In a nutshell, The Offbeat are a group that, as I’ve read in several webpages, will put a smile on your face… with me they have definitely succeeded.
Both records are self-published, a very good reason to try and get them ‘legally’ and not with a miserly click.
In a nutshell, The Offbeat are a group that, as I’ve read in several webpages, will put a smile on your face… with me they have definitely succeeded.
................... (Translation: madbarbax )
Siempre he pensado que internet es algo cíclico, empiezas buscando algo, encuentras otra cosa que atrae tu atención,buscas y encuentras,lo dejas aparcado para más adelante y con el tiempo vuelve. Conocí a The Offbeat a través de alguna crítica en algún blog que no recuerdo, me produjo un ligero interés, lo suficiente como para intentar buscar algo más de información y encontrarlo en el blog amigo POWER POP ACTION , junto a la direccion de su página web, donde ya pude escuchar algunas de sus canciones: Wasted, Blue Sky..... la sensación fué buena, canciones POP, canciones que te traen algún tipo de recuerdo relaccionado con vacaciones, campos verdes... suena a tópico, lo sé, pero bueno, es Sunshine Pop.
Pasado un cierto tiempo conseguí de manera "casual" los dos CDs de larga duración del grupo y es cuando el ciclo de internet se cierra con este comentario.
En principio ya tienes claro que no se trata de un grupo "mod", pero si algo me gusta hablo de ello. The Offbeat no es un grupo convencional, más bien es el proyecto de Darren Finlan y colaboradores: Tony Coxx y Nigel Clark de Dodgy, ambos ya conocidos de la escena pop inglesa (este mismo trio es es que aparece en el disco de Tony Coxx "Unpublished" de 2009) y que aparecen en este "in love field" (2010) con 10 temas que inevitablemente te recordarán a Beach Boys, Beatles o Crowded House....Pop en mayúsculas, déjate atrapar por la primera canción "She can make the sun shine" y sigue sorprendiéndote con el resto de temas.
En realidad este disco ya tenía cinco temas publicados con anterioridad en el EP "To The Rescue" de 2009, pero ha sido ampliado con cinco canciones más para obtener un larga duración, formato con el que Darren Finlan opina que puede llegar a más gente.Los temas añadidos dan continuidad a "in love field" dándote la sensacion de disco compacto o completo. Temas como "She can make the sun shine","Blue Sky","Something about the girl","Someday somehow" pertenecientes a este disco las puedes escuchar en su pagina web. También aparecen temas de su anterior trabajo "The Offbeat", 2008,compuesto junto a Tony Coxx (seis temas aparecen en su disco "Unpublished") como "Wasted","Lonely Girl"o "Keep it Real" donde se nota el sello de Darren, en especial "Wasted" es una canción redonda.
Los dos discos son autopublicados, razón de más para intentar conseguirlos de manera 'legal', no con un sencillo click.
Resumiendo, The Offbeat es un grupo que como he podido leer en varias páginas web, hará que aparezca una sonrisa en tu cara, conmigo lo ha conseguido.
Más info y/venta: aqui , aqui (los 2 CDs) y aqui.