Hello Readers,
Nice to see you again. Hope you’re well.
Today we will talk about an album that came out a few weeks ago. On October 5th, the UK-based urban folk band Naked Without It released a new album called Singles Club. You may wonder what an urban folk label means. To me, it is Folk music in the traditional sense of using acoustic guitars as the main instrumentation, except this music is born in an urban environment offering a harder edge. The names that come to mind that fall within the vicinity of this genre are Frank Turner and some solo Joe Strummer offerings as well. It’s a genre I have a fondness for, equating to hundreds of hours of listening; both seeing live performances and listening via headphones at home or via the speaker and receiver setup via vinyl records playing.
Delving deeper into the duo Naked Without It, you’ll find it composed of Tony Pooley and Martin Kennedy. The two first played together in the 1990’s when they were in Slough, UK-based bands, Just Another Girl and Paradise Alley, respectively. For more perspective for readers over the pond, Slough is a town of nearly 150,000 citizens, a major trading center that lies 20 miles west of central London and almost 20 miles northeast of Reading.
From the band’s press release after that, “Martin forged a successful career in music as a session guitarist, music teacher and contributor to both Guitarist and Guitar Techniques magazines. He is currently a member of Chesney Hawkes touring band and the current incarnation of The Tremeloes. Tony, as Just Another Girl, has released two albums, four eps and two singles.” Kennedy and Pooley returned to play music together in 2019 and have been releasing music ever since.
In 2020, Naked Without It released two EPs, Wig Room D in April. The EP was produced by George Shilling, best known as a long-time producer, engineer, composer and musician. A few examples of bands he’s worked with include Primal Scream, Steve Earle, Teenage Fanclub. In November, the duo released a live EP, Fishhead. In 2022, Naked Without It released their debut full-length album, Habits Far Too Bright.
And on October 5th this year, after 18 months of releasing a single on digital platforms every six weeks comes the aptly named album, Singles Club. I love the concept for this. The best way to listen to and purchase the album digital and in cd format is the band’s Bandcamp page for the album.
Some nice turntable artwork for the album cover.
Singles Club tracklist:
- Molly [3:00]
- One Too Many [3:32]
- Amsterdam [3:15]
- Michael (You’re A Liar) [2:15]
- Bells [3:58]
- Mary [3:00]
- Spinning [3:10]
- Be Careful What You Ask For [3:06]
- Flowers [5:01]
- You You You [3:06]
- All The Drugs [3:13]
- Mr 9 Lives [3:50]
- Spinning (Live) [3:14]
What do the songs on this album sound like? Here’s a preview:
I consider Singles Club to be a good listening experience. There’s some great acoustic guitar work and songwriting throughout. It was a joy to listen to the harmonies throughout but the harmonies on “One Too Many” stick out as the first example. Kennedy and Pooley play and sing so well together, creating some memorable folk songs that would sound fantastic in a live setting.
Want to follow the bands socials? Check out their Instagram page, Facebook page, and hear more music from Naked Without It via their YouTube page and their Bandcamp page. And Spotify.
Happy listening!
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
