CD: “Totem Bells” by Twelve Feet of Clay

Totem Bells is the debut album from Cambridge based band Twelve Clay Feet. The four piece is made up of twins Ian and Jay Jeffs (Lead vocals and guitar respectively), Ollie Porsa (Bass) and Bob Radford (Drums). The bands style of music has a very relaxed feel to it. It is very much geared up for radio play with an indie-pop-rock vibe. Singer Jay uses his husky rock friendly voice to good effect on tracks like Sarajevo Bombs and Sour Rum and the rest of the band are all accomplished musician’s but I thought that they could have given the songs a harder rock feel.

I gave the album several listens on the headphones and on the stereo and it is not a bad foot tapping type of affair but needs a big standout track. Perhaps the song that I found the most memorable was Cornfed with its Bush meets Nickleback sound but that might just had been because it was the opener! I think this band could do well in the future, the talent is defiantly there but they need to come up with something more in-your-face. All in all it is a standard rock pop affair that will appeal to a lot of people. I haven’t seen them live and it may be that these songs come on with a more powerful edge in a concert setting. Good first effort.

Track Listing
1 – Cornfed
2 – Tribal Girls
3 – Still Life
4 – Sarajevo Bombs
5 – Sour Rum
6 – Casino Rules
7 – Battles
8 – Give Yourself Away
9 – Mutant Fingers
10 -Circus Tracks
11 -Red Moon

Line Up
Ian Jeffs – Vocals, Guitar
Jay Jeffs – Lead Guitar
Ollie Porsa – Bass
Bob Radford – Drums

Official Video

http://www.twelveclayfeet.com/
http://www.facebook.com/twelveclayfeet
http://soundcloud.com/twelveclayfeet

Words by Dan O’Gara.