BILLY LIAR

"Billy Liar" is a short EP, or the bands first single. It consists of 2 songs from the album "Her Majesty" and 2 b-sides, not available anywhere else as far as I know. The first track is "Billy Liar" and is the same version as what is on the album. It is an upbeat, jaunty tune. "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" is also from that album in the same version. This is a nice tune, again upbeat with strumming guitar and other accompanying instruments, and features a harmonica solo reminiscent of Stevie Wonder mixed with strings. It seems both of these songs deal with child-ish perversions.

The last two tracks are unique to this EP. "Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right". It starts out with keyboards and repeating chords and vocals. Some guitar and percussion is added later. It stays at a midtempo. There is some nice slide guitar in the instrumental breaks. "Sunshine" has a retro sound, but again deals humorously with someone's butt. Again, it is a bright tune, mostly acoustic.

The songs fit together well, but do very little to hold my interest. There is no semblance of prog here, and, as a matter of fact, not much folk either. Just bouncy pop songs with a mostly acoustic flavor. The best surprise is the slide guitar in the 3rd track. But, all in all, it's not really worth searching for. The 2 b-sides are really nothing special. This one is for the fans and collectors.