It would be all too easy to dismiss Liam Finn as just another chip off the musical block. As the eldest son of Crowded House frontman Neil, the 24-year-old could be lazily lumped in with the same brand of inoffensive pop-rock that Dad’s made a career out of peddling – but it’d be neither fair nor accurate. In any case, the young Finn doesn’t need the family name to open doors for him; his career with New Zealand band Betchadupa means that he’s flying solo, but not inexperienced, on the self-produced, mostly self-performed I’ll Be Lightning.
The lion’s share of ...Lightning is an impressive, pleasantly surprising record. While most tracks bear the hallmark of timeless structures and songcraft, there’s a welcome element of whimsy here, too. Opener ‘Better To Be’, for example, is a dreamy little pop song that babbles and plods forth beautifully; further dalliances with the warm retro bristle of The Beatles (‘Lead Balloon’, ‘I’ll Be Lightning’), the droll banter of Badly Drawn Boy (‘Second Chance’) and the wistful dream-pop of Brendan Benson or Elliott Smith (‘Wide Awake On The Voyage Home’) are also uncovered to pleasing effect.
There’s an inevitable dip in pace and quality with a brace of drab acoustic numbers about two-thirds in, but imperfection is no great sin in a debut. With I‘ll Be Lightning, Finn defiantly declares: ‘Anything Dad can do, I can do better’. Too true.
Key Track: ‘Lead Balloon’