Here we have yet another English delicacy in the form of quartet, The Heavy… With three albums already under their belt the band from Bath, England is led by frontman Kelvin Swaby on vocals and Dan Taylor on guitar. The Heavy are generally listed as an ‘indie rock’ band, though they tend to be more inclined towards funk blues and neo soul, especially in this treat of a jam ‘What Makes a Good Man’.
Though a relatively young band (their first album released in 2007) The Heavy employ a very ‘old-school’ approach as far as their musical inclinations go. This song for example, begins with a steady beat by drummer Chris Ellul with a dramatic vocal overlay provided by Swaby that sounds like Chris Cornell’s rasp-snuffing around soul music by James Brown. That intro alone earns the song its very first play…
Add to that a few horn samples and great backing vocals courtesy of the fine young ladies who feature in the video and you’ve got one helluva tune on your hands.
Visually striking and theatrically-engaging, the video is somewhat reminiscent of a late night outburst by a lounge-act band. Which, with its mellow ambiance and smooth atmosphere always gets your foot tapping; and you know when you do, that you’re feeling the groove.
But in addition to being a great track, ‘What Makes a Good Man’ has one more quality that determines the success ratio of a song – Its cinematically-expandable nature!