Noel Gallagher can be a grumpy old git. Apparently, among the many things he has taken against – including Liam Gallagher, Christmas, and, perhaps justifiably, bands that say yes to charity gigs and then pull out – the music of I Said Yes seems to have drawn his ire. But listening to their debut EP, we have to disagree. Sure, we can see why this is not Noel’s cup of tea, or, as he would probably have it, pint of beer. But it’s not far from being ours.
Following the pretty-much-always-successful formula of incorporating every instrument they can lay their hands on (they count 14 between their five members), I Said Yes produce sunny tunes designed to get toes tapping and indie-folk fans swooning. Second track ‘Bad’ is anything but what its name suggests, but instead the stand-out on this debut EP as accordians add a continental tilt.
‘Follow On’, er, follows after, the first chosen single from this record, and it’s not hard to see why with its catchy beat and some fine horns adding a touch of class, although it never quite bursts forth in the way it seems to promise, like a wave coming ashore but refusing to break.
America steps things up several gears with a much bolder sound, pounding drums and swirling guitars before ‘Princes Motto’ brings it to a rather lovely, sedate ending. Even if they never win Noel over, they should plenty of others happy to lend them an ear.