Official rating: 93
Stoney may just be the next prolific British songwriter. It’s pretty appropriate that the first track, “Jailbird”, off his album The Scene and Unseen recalls the gears & moans of Blur’s “Top Man”, not only is Stoney a one-man band, but his thickly-accented, art school rock conjures major acts of ’90s Britpop success. Big time.
Mark Stoney’s got the pipes to fill a stadium and the laddish buoyancy to make it float. He’s backed by his own pub jam rock, with a lot of the claps, stomps, piano, and balladry that put Franz, Coldplay, Starsailor, and Turin Brakes into their cozy positions. All by himself. Hurry.
