I really didn’t have high expectations when I pulled this album out to review. Sido Martens – never heard of him and it’s on a Dutch label. However when the title track ‘Pisces’ started up, I knew I was in for a treat. The slightly Spanish sounding acoustic guitar followed by the roll of the drums and the balance of the bass followed swiftly by the vocals that are just beautiful. The electric guitar coming in at the end finishes the track superbly. But I would challenge anyone to tell me this is a Dutch album on first listening, unless they look at the cover or labels, but that would be cheating. The slight vibrato in Sido’s vocals on ‘On the waterside create an eerie atmosphere. I have to say that some of the instrumentals are not completely to my taste, but there is still enough quality on the album to make this a great addition to your collection. Just listen to the start of ‘First of May’ and you know you’re listening to a solid dish of Folk Rock and a poignant socialist message.
You have to admire the fact that Sido also plays all the instruments save drums and keyboards. He also writes all the tracks, so a true singer/songwriter. One of the highlights of Side 2 is ‘Piracy?’ a great song, with Curved Air type synthesiser helping it along. The instrumental ‘Bleu’ has a Dutch Focus feel to it. This was a real surprise for me, great album that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to.
