Kid Harpoon – Once

There’s real talent here, but there’s not enough good material to fill a whole album.

You can read too much into words. Once, the debut album from 27-year-old Kid Harpoon (Tom Hull), features titles such as Stealing Cars, Buried Alive and Death Of A Rose. The first is the album’s opener, a jaunty little number in which Hull proclaims “let’s go stealing cars” during the song’s chorus. Second track Colours opens with the line “red is the colour of blood when I cut myself”. You’d be forgiven for thinking this is an album for the manic depressive, or full of downbeat acoustic numbers. Well, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

Stealing Cars is delivered in a manner which makes the pastime seem utterly acceptable, Hull’s falsetto declaring that “I feel like I’m alive”. Buried Alive, in fairness, is a downbeat acoustic number, but layered with harmonies so sublime you can’t help but feel inspired by it. Death Of A Rose opens with Hull discovering his lover with another, but by this point the songs are more resembling those from a West End musical. It’s not clear when this change takes place, but over the course of the album’s 40 minutes Once slowly loses its way so that you eventually get the feeling that Hull spends his time wandering the streets with legions of ra-ra girls in tow, making light of bad situations.

But it’s the words which ultimately let Once down. On first listen it’s an album full of catchy hooks and upbeat songs, however not one which rewards repeat listens. By the closing number, Childish Dreaming, the words are from the perspective of a child – but instead of sounding clever it simply sounds as if the band have run out of ideas. It’s definitely a shame because there’s real talent here, but there’s not enough good material to fill a whole album.

This review originally appeared on The Music Magazine.

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