Name: Sniff 'n' the Tears
Album(s): Fickle Heart~ The Game's Up*
Year(s): 1979~, 1980*
Style: Rock, Soft Rock, 70's AOR
Similar Bands: Dire Straits, Motors, 10cc, Dave Edmunds, Steve Forbert, Foreigner, Chicago, Ace, Al Stewart
One Word Review: Back Alley Folky Tonk Jams
Based Out Of: London England
Label: Atlantic, Chiswick
Fickle Heart: Cover, Liner, Record
Fickle Heart: Back, Liner, Record
The Game's Up - Cover, Liner, Record
The Game's Up - Back, Liner, Record
Fickle Heart (1979)
- Driver's Seat 4:00
- New Lines On Love 3:40
- Carve your Name on My Door 2:33
- This Side of The Blue Horizon 4:40
- Sing 2:23
- Rock N' Roll Music 2:35 /
- Fight For Love 3:45
- The Thrill of it All 3:37
- Slide Away 3:45
- Last Dance 1:50
- Looking For You 4:20
The Game's Up (1980)
- The Game's Up 3:52
- Moment of Weakness 3:13
- What Can Daddy Do? 3:15
- Night Life 3:57
- If I Knew Then 4:57 /
- One Love 3:20
- Five & Zero 4:38
- Poison Pen Mail 4:41
- Rodeo Drive 6:22
Album Rating (1-10):~5.5
*5.0
Members & Other Bands:
Jim Nellis - Backing Vox~
Noel McCalla - Backing Vox~* (Moon, Blade & Masquenada Family, Partners in Crime, Paul Carrack, Mike Rutherford, Mezzoforte, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Arthur Louis )
Chris Birkin - Bass~
Andrew Young - Design~
Luigi Salvoni - Drums, Percussion, Producer~ (Moon, Loz Netto's Bzar, McCalla, Snivelling Shits)
Loz Netto - Guitar~ *Backing Vox* (Brian Copsey & The Commotions, Eye Talk)
Mick Dyche - Guitar~* Backing Vox* ( Wild Turkey, McCalla, Maddy Prior Band, Snips)
Alan Fealdman - Keys~ (Jasper, Trifle, FBI, Mome Yamaguchi, McCalla)
Stephen Lipson - Mixing~ Producer, Engineer*
Keith Miller - Synth, String Machine~ (Culture Club, Nick Garvey, Copycats)
Paul Roberts - Vox, Guitar, Composer~* Cover Painting~
Paul Robinson - Drums* (K2, Turning Point, Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion, Intercontinental Express, Turning Point, Art of Noise, Invisible Men, Proclaimers, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Pet Shop Boys)
Richard Bailey - Drums* (Ananda, Batti Mamzelle, Dave Defries Quarter, Gonzalez, Hope Collective, Incognito, The Breakfast Band, Dysfunkshun, Johnny Nash, Jeff Beck)
Richard Marcangelo - Drums* (Cinerama, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, The Drivers, Vibraphonic, Ostara, Rumer)
Nick South - Bass* (Time UK, Second Hand, Ellis, Claire Hamill, Blue Goose, Cafe Society, Donovan, Murray Head, Zoot Money, Red, Chimera)
Phil Smee - Design*
Julien 'Jools' Cooper - Engineer Asst*
Nick Tomory - Engineer Asst*
Mike Taylor - Keys* (Renaissance)
Karen Knorr - Photography*
Dominique Durand - Tech Tape Op*
Bud Prager - Management*
Miffy Smith - Moog~
Ron Lawrence - Bass~
Bazza - Mixing~
Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band. From the looks of the band pictures and album artwork, looks like it will be glammy power pop. To me, the name feels a little embarrassing, but I want to see if the artwork's mood is an interpretation of the music, or if it is just a stylized theme.
Album Review(s): Sniff ‘n’ the
Tears was started at drummer Luigi’s request, asking Paul Roberts to join him
after hearing promise in some demos they recorded together. Their first track
on the first album was a huge success in the US and less so in the UK due to a
production error. But Driver Seat kept Roberts in the spot light time, and time
again, as it was used in a 1991 Dutch auto commercial, and in 1997’s Boogie
Nights. Roberts was the only continuous member throughout the history, even
painting the majority of the artwork himself. Although they never found the
same success as the first album, Roberts still uses the moniker along with his
own solo material to this day.
~“Driver's Seat”
was a huge single, reaching #15 in the US. The keyboard and harmonized chorus
feel like disco, while the electric guitar is buzzy in the background. The lead
vocals are nasally, but in an abrasive way, that feels like they’re sung
through a sneer. The song has a disco shuffle tempo, too
“New Lines On
Love” has story telling vocals of a typical singer/songwriter, like a more
melodic Bob Dylan. The music is dark, shuffling back alley music, and a little
jangly. It has the harmonized backing vocals that echo the lead in the chorus.
“Carve Your Name
on My Door” begins with the title sang/spoke instrument-free. The song has a
southern rock / country sense; honky-tonk rock, perhaps. The vocals sound light
and airy, with the same sneer, reminding me of Dave Edmunds and Steve Forbert.
“This Side of the
Blue Horizon” is slower, and with the piano in the beginning, is basically a
piano ballad with some twang. It is pretty slow and tedious, and the only
energetic moments are countrified.
“Sing” is another
slinky, back alley bluesy pub song with a shuffle strut.
“Rock N' Roll
Music” is decidedly more oldies-style rock and roll. The vocals echo more, as
if they are being sung at an indoor pool, and feel like a quiet afterthought.
The production falls flat on an otherwise energetic song.
“Fight For Love” begins
with an acoustic guitar, and continues down a light groove, reminding me of the
little I know of the Grateful Dead. The harmonized chorus punctuate the lyrics
in the chorus with the song title.
“The Thrill of it
All” takes a jazzy, bluesy tone. It is general 70’s AOR, or dad rock.
“Slide Away” has
a bit more electronic, prog rock feel. It is more mystical and spacey. Some of
the instrumentation reminds me of Ween hippy jams.
“Last Dance” is a
slow folk song, reminding me of Rod McKuen, and a little Dylan with the vocal
style. There is only an acoustic guitar for support.
“Looking For You”
begins after a cymbal hit, and a slow, methodical jam begins. It gently glides
along in a wafty drug dream state.
*“The Game's Up”
picks right up where the previous album left off with the specific kind of
light 70’s rock. It must be the right mindset to mellow out and listen to this
while stoned. It has an organ and other jazzy elements. But the chorus is standard
catchy pop.
“Moment of
Weakness” is a bit bouncier, and upbeat. And it has minimal, jazzy
instrumentation. The verses are sung a bit faster than usual. The song sounds
like an 80’s sitcom theme song (Full House).
“What Can Daddy
Do?” has a tinge of reggae vibe. It sounds like a cheesy Caribbean
all-inclusive resort’s house band.
“Night Life” is a
beatnik poem set to incidental sound effects, like a single person performance
art monologue. The music kicks in to be a dark, back alley style song for the
chorus, but returns to the monologue again for the verse. The instrumental section is a whining guitar,
played upscale to a final scream at the end.
“If I Knew Then”
starts with jangly guitar, and sitcom horns, as if from MASH. The bass line is
jazzy, but the song is casual and light. There are synth effects used in the
song, but they come off like a starter kit, like the synth box was just opened,
and the couple of effects used were from the first trial setting. Also, everyone
else is using a synth on their hit records, so they wanted to too. It reminded
me of the segment music from the science spoof show “Look Around You.”
“One Love”
borrows some synth elements, but is mostly a stripped down bluesy lite rock
song. In the instrumental section, the electric guitar answers the synth hook
in conversation, and they go back and forth. The song ends with a skittering
drum and rhythm guitar combo, and fades out.
“Five & Zero”
continues with the light, sparse songs, with a reflective tone. There is not
much energy to the music; it is basically non-threatening, relaxation rock,
almost like a demo of what could be a power pop song.
“Poison Pen Mail”
takes another minimal music, folksy spoken lyric route. The organ is the only
music in support for a while, but is then added to with a guitar that uses a
couple notes as lyrics to the song. This too feels like a fragment, or an
unfinished song. More elements are added as the song progresses, and it fills
out some, but it feels like a cheap, radio friendly, dumbed down cover of a Tom
Waits song.
“Rodeo Drive”
starts with a variety of jazzy synth effects, not really finding a melody or
cohesion until the swirling and fading synth notes are held, forming melodies
and guitars pick up some of the weight. The song is an odd composition,
throwing a lot of elements at the walls to see if anything sticks. Not
everything works, and it definitely does not all fit together, but for a
creative album ending track, it offers inspiration for things that may be
investigated on the next album. At its heart, is a jazzy, free-form
composition, tidied together by a general vocal melody. The end of the track
draws back, and gives the theatrical situation of the listener changing
channels while in their car.
Stand Out Track(s):
~ Driver's Seat
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