Ben Birchall & The Corrections Last Ditch Brigade by: Al Cottrill Mon:09-Jul-07 Label: Cavalier Year: 2007 WB rating 62 out of 100

Is this Ben Birchall’s last chance, his last roll of the dice? In titling his debut solo LP Last Ditch Brigade, he seems to think it could well be…

I hope not, because he makes utterly likeable music: classic Australian small-time guitar pop. However Birchall’s new band has added a harder rock edge to his power-pop, and his sound has matured since the teenage sounds of his old band Klinger. They broke up in 2003, but from the remains Birchall constructed his backing band, The Corrections, including Klinger’s rhythm section Glenn Arnup on bass and Darren Vlah on drums. Throwing in keyboardist-around-town Matt Vehl and the Hovercrafts Dave McGann on guitar he had himself a backing band. It’s not an updated Klinger though, it’s Birchall’s album, and the music reflects this as he shows us all his tricks, from punchy rock to jittery pop, and even a regret tinged ballad or two. And there’s enough catchy choruses to keep your voice occupied and your mind from wandering.

There seems to have been a conscious effort by Birchall to move away from his distinctive accent that was obvious in Klinger, and even clear in the single from his last EP, ‘Three Minute Revolution’. Last Ditch Brigade couldn’t really be called power-pop, its rock sound is too strong for that, fostered by Birchall’s edgy, reaching vocals. The new sound is perfectly surmised by opener ‘Surprise Surprise’, a tight rock number with the sneering chorus “I could use a drink/Surprise, surprise”. ‘Corazon’ sees Birchall return his voice to its normal tone, resulting in a love song far easier to listen to. A pleasing Hammond gives the song a ‘Latin’ feel, and the song will get stuck in your head in a moment if given half a chance. In fact, Vehl’s work throughout Last Ditch Brigade is a great addition, and lifts many songs to a new level.

The buzzing ‘Razor Smile’ has fantastic accent drops, when he stops punching it out and slides into his natural Australian voice with “I can’t stop the feeling I’ve got that I’m way too drunk”. It’s an album highlight: short, sharp and catchy. The tempo is dropped back with the closest thing to a ballad on the album in ‘My Dear’ (although my copy of the album seems to have had the tracks pressed in the wrong order, with ‘Optimistic’ appearing first), with vocals similar to Klinger-era Birchall, and a sound not unlike Bernard Fanning’s solo material. There are worse places to start if looking to become a successful singer-songwriter. Unfortunately its predecessor/successor ‘Optimistic’ doesn’t quite work, lacking a true hook and Birchall’s voice for once grating slightly when straining. It’s one of the moments you question his decision to rock more and pop less.

To some extent, it’s obvious that Birchall is forcing his voice in another direction. It sounds obviously scratchy, as though he’s trying to suppress something natural (‘Surprise, Surprise’, ‘Razor Smile’, ‘Holding Out For A Better Hand’). It doesn’t affect the album greatly because it adds to its maturity, as his voice did have an adolescent twang to it (still present in ‘Next Year’s Model’, ‘Wasting Every Moment’), but that didn’t make it a bad thing. What it did allow was more emotion, and a range that came across naturally. To the album’s detriment, here they can sound forced. Where it does work is in tracks like ‘My Dear’ and ‘Corazon’, because it is combined with an upbeat or positive sound that balances his lack of melody.

Accordingly, there’s a battle going on in this record between Birchall’s mature sound and his natural pop talents. Whether the harder sound suits him is still questionable, but this collection of tracks is argument enough for him to continue in this direction. It is possible that more melody would be a positive addition, because his previous work has shown that he can obviously write a hook. The most obvious change in his search for a new sound is the switch from the major chords of his Klinger power-pop, to the minor chords that are more prominent in this album. Songs like ‘Wasting Every Moment’ and ‘Holding Out For A Better Hand’ are instilled with a downbeat stomp and bitter vibe by the new tuning. Not surprisingly, both seem to deal with Birchall’s quest for stardom in the Australian music fishbowl and the constant slog that it entails, with the introspective interrogations: “Have I wasted every moment til today” and “Have you grown accustomed to the trappings of the stage” respectively.

To some extent, Birchall seems unsure of his new sound. It’s a rougher, edgier, more rock sound, but in search of it he has sacrificed some melody. If there’s one thing an album like this needs to be, it’s catchy, and for this either melody or chorus is required. Thankfully, Birchall can do the second just fine, dragging many a song up to memorable. There’s something here for everyone, and while it might not blow your socks off, there are worse ways to spend your money. Straight-up pop might suit him slightly better, but in the meantime, this album provides entertainment enough. It’s probably unfair to say this about a man that’s already served an extended apprenticeship, but Birchall’s probably not far off writing a great album. He is after all, only 27. As long as this isn’t really his Last Ditch effort.