Thomas White
‘The Maximalist’
(Cooking Vinyl)

The astonishingly prolific Thomas White has played and toured constantly for the past decade. A member of Electric Soft Parade and Brakes, and session musician for Patrick Wolf, British Sea Power and Sparks to name a few, he doesn’t stop. In an attempt to showcase his musical dexterity, White’s second solo album takes an ill-advised trip through innumerable genres, and the results are patchy. Opener ‘Introducing The Band’ is a pointless prog wig-out, whilst ‘Moonlight And Snow’ could easily be mistaken for the dodgy lift muzak which runs through Napoleon Dynamite. Finally comes a flash of his capabilities in the pounding pop brilliance of ‘The Last Blast’, reminiscent of Supergrass’ ‘Caught By The Fuzz’. Frustratingly inconsistent.

Sophie Thomsett