STAN –
LOST FOR WORDS
www.myspace.com/stanuk
STAN are a pop/rock/jazz duo
from Hertfordshire, who play
in a variety of styles from
acoustic to full on rock. Their
influences include classic Brit
bands across four decades,
add to this a jazz influence,
with a touch of Northern Soul,
then you might have some
idea of where STAN are
coming from…
Describing themselves as
‘Internet-Café Jazz’, Stan (great
name!) build diverse sounds
around off-kilter West Coast
rock, Zappa-esque jazz breaks
and even rap vocals sometimes.
Stan songs deal in dark, cohesive
themes of obsession,
compulsion, addiction, love and
loss and over the past three
years they have attained cult
status on several internet sites.
On the face of it, Stan should
not really work. Their strangely
eclectic pot of sounds, on paper,
belongs in the dark corners of
real ale pubs. In reality their
heady brew of internet friendly
modern takes on classic themes
is strangely engaging. Add some
brooding Hammond organ and
the result is uplifting music you’d
love to accidentally find being
played live in a week night bar
when you want to chill out
rather than party.

It seems that of late, relaxed acoustic acts are on the rise. James Blunt's Back To Bedlam sold massively last year, Jack Johnson's third album has received widespread acclaim and soft-jazzy acts like Katie Melua and Jamie Cullum continue to shift records. So Stan, releasing the Lullaby... EP as a stopgap before their third independent long-player, should by rights be massive by now. Sadly, this is not the case; there is probably a reason for that.
The reason being that they refuse to remain stuck in the restrictive laid-back niche that the aforementioned acts seem happy to relax in. Stan experiment, and have somehow found a genre somewhere between 1960s pop and... rap. The Lullaby... EP is acoustic music, but not as we know it. Stan, made up of two ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalists, Tim Smith and Neil Archer, start with acoustic sketches and screw around with them; a rap break here, a splash of Hammond organ or even a gong there.
By daring to think outside the box, Stan may have doomed themselves to a lifetime of obscurity; I don't know about them, but I'm happy with that. If boring music is the price of commercial success, then may they continue to play their slightly wonky folk for years to come.

Tracks Lullaby from the Drive, Stan Dup, Always Rushin, Audrey Hepburn

NARCH1 Productions 14 Tracks 47.09 mins

STAN are a two piece group formed of Neil Archer & Tim Smith, who between them play an assortment of instruments, covering the traditional Guitar, bass drums, keyboards to the less popular Ham bones & Hammer & Spanner.no they are not into Heavy Metal. The duo deliver 14 tracks, all self written & produced, conjuring up the soft music of the late sixties, with plenty of whimsy, eastern influences & experimentation. They are not afraid to improvise and each track has plenty of depth and subtlety that warrants repeated playing. While only having one true blues track on the album in Black Cat Blues this album should not be disregarded, as some of the other tracks do bring back memories of yester-years, like the mod influenced Brighton Rock or the ship yard factory sounds of the 1920s on Son of a Son of a Sailors Son. This CD is definitely an album that benefits from playing in a relaxed atmosphere; it is very soothing.....