FINAL judgment will be reserved until The Seahorses debut album, Do It Yourself, is released at the end of the month, but on this, their first appearance in Ireland, it's quite obvious that old Stone Roses grooves (lead guitarist John Squire used to be in the band), and a Jimmy Page fixation are hard things to shake off. It's possible a smaller indoor venue might test their true mettle, but on this hearing The Seahorses aren't exactly breaking new ground.
Unlike Beck Hansen, whose emergence over the past year in particular has proven that modern musical categories are no longer as sacrosanct as they once were. Beck is the exception to the record company rule of eclecticism equals commercial death. He mixes one style with another and almost always in the same song. The overall result is initially perplexing, but ultimately enthralling.
His Las Vegas influenced stage presence of prepschool prefect raised on a video diet of Elvis Presley and James Brown was brilliant, and a perfect accompaniment to the genrebusting content of his music. Promising to rock the courtyards, Beck followed scratchy hiphop with Sonny Teny inspired steam roller harmonica, and noisy folk with U2 influenced pop.
Far too clever to be strait jacketed as a 90s version of Jonathan Rich man, and too immersed in American pop culture to be an eccentric dilettante, Beck did indeed Rock the courtyard. I don't believe it will ever be the same again.