The Sheffield Scenester

Left Ajar are 4 lads from Sheffield who have been gigging (albeit with different lead singers) for over 4 years now. Their newest lead singer, Rob Butler, joined up with them about this time last year, during which time the band has gone from strength to strength. As a culmination of all of their hard work gigging and recording throughout last year, the band have proudly sent us a copy of their latest EP, “1”, to have a listen to.

Reaction

The opening tune ‘Reaction’ is a belter - a smash and grab tune which has the listener enthralled right from the off. Lead guitarist Andy doesn’t hold back as he bangs into the track, backed up by Jamie on bass, and the ever energetic Russ on drums. As far as I’m aware this is the first time Left Ajar have recorded with new singer Rob, but he isn’t shy as he hammers into his lyrics on this tune. I never managed to see Left Ajar in their pre Rob days, but I can’t imagine they could have sounded any better without him - he brings a distinctive vocal to the proceedings, which seems to balance perfectly with the bands overall sound. The riff running through the song has a sound similar to a Led Zep tune, up tempo and in your face, all in all the perfect opening song for the EP.

Runaway

Second song ‘Runaway’ is slightly softer - Rob’s voice really shines through on this vocal. If I had to describe him in relation to other vocalists I’d say his voice has the softness of Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, and the style of Brett Anderson from Suede - indeed, this song has the vibe of a Suede song; ‘Amyl Nitrate’ immediately springs to mind whilst listening. Jamie and Russ combine to provide the perfect backbeat to the tune whilst Andy again pulls it off by offering some excellent guitar parts throughout. In my opinion this is the best track on the EP.

Hold Me Down

The final song, ‘Hold Me Down’ finds the pace again, and the musicians again create a wall of sound for Rob to sing over. If there is a negative to be found with Left Ajar, I think it is that Rob’s has such a nice voice it is not used to it’s full potential in a song such as ‘Hold Me Down’, where the song’s style is for the vocal to follow the guitar throughout. Because of this (coupled with the speed of the song) Rob trips over his vocals a couple of times in this track. However, this is obviously Left Ajar’s style and that in itself isn’t for me to question, I personally just hope there are a couple of slower tracks on the album I’m certain these lads will go on to write.

Left Ajar have already had their share of critical acclaim, they were voted top unsigned band on Channel4.com, and also won the title of top unsigned band in South Yorkshire in the Last Band Standing competition. With this EP to back them up I’m sure that they will go on to achieve a lot of success. What pleases me most about Left Ajar is that they have entirely their own sound. Whilst researching the band I noticed they were compared to Blur, Metallica and The White Stripes, indeed I noted several other bands where they touch on a certain sound, but the great thing is I think they’ve taken on these influences and created a sound all of their own. I’ve never actually seen them play live as yet, but when I find out they are playing in Sheffield next I’ll be going along to see them for sure.

Words by James Whitworth