The Left Outsides: And Colours In Between
By
Evan Sawdey 21 February 2008PopMatters Interviews Editor
Their aesthetic is easy to admire: a U.K. two-piece (Alison Cotton and Mark Nicholas) who record their own brand of patented indie-folk on their own terms: writing their own songs, producing their own records, and selling straight-from-their-hard-drive CD-Rs at shows. What’s less admirable is the music itself: here is a band that—despite lovely touches of violin—writes the same songs over and over again: drawn-out, droning acoustic laments that maintain the sound of an “acoustic My Bloody Valentine” while retaining none of the dynamics. The group’s sound feels more fleshed out, however, when they give in to their itching psychedelic inclinations, particularly with “The Chameleon” (complete with wind-chime breakdown at the end), and the breathtaking instrumental piece “I Fear That I Have Lost My Way”. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Left Outsides or their music; they just tend to implode with preciousness a majority of the time, eliciting more yawning fans than fawning ones.
Evan Sawdey began contributing to PopMatters in late 2005 after contributing for years to his college newspaper
The Knox Student. Evan became the Associate Interviews Editor for PopMatters in the summer of 2008, and then the full Interviews Editor a year after that. Since joining, Evan's work has been quoted/featured in a wide array of publications including SLUG Magazine, The Metro (U.K.), the Gulf Times, Soundvenue Magazine (Denmark), and multiple national newspapers. Evan has been a guest on WNYC's Soundcheck (an NPR affiliate), was the Executive Producer for the
Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle album (available for free at
GoodWithWordsAlbum.com), and wrote the liner notes for the 2011 re-release of
Andre Cymone's hit 1985 album A.C. (Big Break Records) and the 2012 re-releases of
the JoBoxers' 1983 debut album Like Gangbusters,
'Til Tuesday's 1985 debut Voices Carry, and
Plastic Bertrand's 1978 album AN 1 (all Hot Shot Records). He is a current member of The Recording Academy and resides in Chicago, Illinois. You can follow him
@SawdEye should you be so inclined.
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