The Sheffield Scenester

2011 looks like it could be an interesting year for Sheffield band The Cartels. Despite having been a well known band on the Sheffield circuit for a few years now, ‘Club 60 Session’ is the first official release from these four lads. Before even listening to the tracks it is clear looking into the recent history of the band that they have already received some acclaim, they have recently been signed to publishers Ditto Music, and late last year they played support to one of my own favourite bands, Detroit Social Club, when they played at The Plug.

True Love Spreads

A slow, long guitar intro grabs your attention and pulls you along into the rest of the tune, where the drums and the bass have you fully intoxicated before singer Ian Scholfield starts his vocal. The track is clear and, as I prefer in my music, I can hear clearly every word that he sings. The overall sound is pretty diverse in it’s style - it could be likened to many early 90’s bands with the live sounding feel of some of the tracks on ‘Definitely Maybe’, such as ‘Columbia’ & ‘Slideaway’, but in fairness the sound generated by The Cartels is slightly softer than that, with a soulful feel, especially noticeable with the vocal style in which Ian sings. Comparisons could easily be made with Paul Weller, circa ‘Stanley Road’, or with Sheffield’s own Joe Cocker, the slightly gravelly tone in his voice pulling out the vocal, sounding as though it is lifted above the track.

‘True love spreads everywhere/true love spreads in the air’. The chorus is belted out with gusto, before a bridge that borrows quite heavily from Cast’s ‘Fine Time’, but don’t take that as a negative as it fits in so well with the vibe of the song. I can imagine the anthemic feel of this tune in a live setting. Some clever guitar from Daniel Thompson then ensues, with some subtle wah wah effects whilst Oliver on the drums hammers the kit and takes the sound up to the next level. ‘All you need is love/love is all you need’ is the lyric repeated at the end of the song. Heard somewhere before? Yes, but again that doesn’t matter. It’s more of a nod to the music that went before than a steal. This song clocks in at over 6 minutes long, but it easily held my attention throughout. Quality.

Shake Rattle Roll

A slow acoustic guitar intro is greeted with a cymbal smash and another high quality vocal on which reverb is used effectively but not over cooked. Straight away I drew similarities between the sound this song generates and that of The Verve when they are playing live. Daniel & Ian on the guitars combine to give this song an edge, which a lot of other bands on the circuit can’t seem to get into in their recordings. To say the song was recorded in a semi live style, it has a crispness that is very hard to encapsulate, and this can only be down to the quality of the musicianship. Another plus point is The Cartels’ ability to slow down their music to a virtual stop, before raising the sound back up slowly, with addictive bass lines, the use of guitars both separately and then intertwined, and a steady seductive beat from the drum kit. Again this is not a quick two minute snap of a tune, but a deeper, more interesting 6 minute song which feels more like a story.

If these two tracks are an example of all of The Cartels’ tunes, I recommend getting hold of as many as you can and settling down with your headphones on and letting the sound take you away for a hour. What they have to offer is current, interesting and mostly good. The Club 60 Session has just been released on the 27th June and is a must listen for anyone who wants to listen to the best of what Sheffield has to offer. Upon hearing this music demo I conclude that there can’t be many better local bands around at the moment. As far as getting to hear the boys live, they are playing as part of a jam packed set at The Leadmill on the Saturday of Tramlines, so try to get down and support them.

Words by James Whitworth