Things We Used To Do – Gavin McLeod (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

What’s the only thing better than a big finish? A big start! And a big start is precisely what kicks off Things We Used To Do. Two cool power chords writ large and lush to make the listener sit up and take notice lead us in. And even if Gavin McLeod dials things down for a while, it is a trick that he makes good use of as the song progresses. And it is the ebb and flow between understatement and sonic sucker punches that keep the song dynamic fresh, and fantastic.

Things We Used To Do is wonderfully reflective but runs on enough energy to keep the narrative accessible and the music brilliant, both in the sense of burning bright and deftly done. Gavin McLeod knows how to write anthemic songs, which is precisely what this is.

If power and drive are usually the bastions of the rock fraternity, McLeod proves that in the right hands, it can be just as effective when applied to the indie-roots sound, too. And Gavin McLeod is definitely the right pair of hands for such a task.