Edward Rogers, a British-born singer-songwriter based in New York City, has delivered one of the year’s understated musical gems with his latest effort, Porcelain.
The album is audio heaven for fans of early to mid-1970s-era British rock, as it combines the nostalgic poetics of Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople and the insouciant glam bounce of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, as heard in its raucous, addictive first single, “The Biba Crowd.”
Highlights abound on Porcelain, from the fragile love balladry of “Nothing Too Clever” to the bittersweet piano-based lament “Link To The Chain.” Of special note here are the rockers: “Separate Walls” is highlighted by Doug Weiselman’s frantic baritone sax squalls, while the compelling “Topping The World” offers up a driving guitar riff accompanied by a dark analysis of a crumbling, decaying society that sounds like our own.
“Silent Singer” is another Ian Hunter-esque ballad detonated by Don Fleming’s searing lead guitar; “Fashion Magazine” offers up a nifty slice of floaty psychedelia that conjures up the heyday of The Pretty Things, circa S.F. Sorrow.
Fans of classic Britrock owe it to themselves to check Porcelain out.
--Johnny "Gutter" Walker
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