Ryan Hamilton “Hell Of A Day”

Ryan Hamilton may be known to you as being the ex Smile Smile frontman or alternatively as part of People On Vacation (a project with Bowling For Soup singer Jaret Reddick). He’s clearly a man constantly looking for an outlet for his song writing and is now releasing his debut solo album, “Hell Of A Day”.

We’re not sure we need to write up a review for this album, as the opening words on the album,  “we’ll turn the rain into sunshine”, pretty much sums it up. “Be Kind Rewind” is the first of many songs on the album that are just full of fun. Loads of the tracks have a bounce along feel that even recall some of the really poppy Brit pop bands like The Supernaturals.

It’s not all just cheeky tunes though, there are some well crafted, but equally catchy songs on this release. “Karaoke With No Crowd” and “Freak Flag” have more of an ‘adult’ pop feel to them. One of the highlights is certainly “4 Letter Verb”, which is one of the best rocking, power pop songs we have heard in a long time. There is a bit of added ‘crunch’ to “Medicine” and “Records and Needles” which sees us recalling one of our favourite bands, The Marvelous 3.

Importantly, the album is given a change of pace every now and then. “Take It on The Run” may be a cover, but it is executed nicely to give it a really strong, dare we say, ‘mature’ sound. Whilst, “I Love You A Lot” opens up like Weezer’s “Island In The Sun” before developing in to the kind of brilliant pop song that is as bright as the sun, on a glorious summer’s day.

The craft of delivering really great pop songs is a hard one to master. Indeed, even if you do, it tends to result in snide critical comments (see the brilliant Scouting For Girls as a great example). Sometimes though, all you want is a great little tune to brighten up your day and make you smile. The beauty of this album, is you can pick any of the songs at random and it will achieve that.