Single Release: ‘Frustration’ by Barrow
* THE ever-mysterious musical duo Barrow have been recording and releasing songs online since early May of that very strange year that was 2020.
Borne of the coronavirus lockdown, all of their songs are resolutely ‘across the wires’ digital collaborations, with singer Andy Smith putting his parts together in a hastily converted back bedroom scullery somewhere in good old Barrow-in-Furness.
Fellow Barrovian, music-man and video editor Phil Pearson adds the finishing (or starting) touches from his current base in sunny Manchester, in-between taking time out from his burgeoning playwriting career.
The majority of their songs to date have tended to veer towards the ballad genre, but their latest offering has certainly bucked that trend.
‘Frustration’ is a 1 minute and 59 second blast of searing guitar and Pete Wylie-esque vocals, with a nod to 60s bubble gum pop for the chorus.
Eschewing the need for a middle 8, Andy Smith repeatedly croons ‘I’ve never seen this side of you before – kinda like it’; a bit like Tony Hadley singing Now That’s What I Call New Wave.
Both members of the duo Barrow are well-known to seasoned music fans in the local Furness area, with Phil having been guitarist with bands such as the Valley Forge, Vincent, and the Smells from Hell.
Andy is perhaps best known as lead singer with alt wave originals The Active, but he also completed vocal stints with the likes of Pushing up Daisies, Halcyon Drift, Mojo Soul and The Drift.
-David Duffin