The Primary 5 - North Pole [Japan Bonus Tracks]

All Music Guide

Former Teenage Fanclub and Soup Dragons drummer Paul Quinn delivers a stunning solo debut with North Pole. Although credited to the Primary Five, North Pole is, for all intents and purposes, a solo effort with Quinn taking on most of the vocal, guitar, keyboard, and drum duties. Collaborating with fellow Scot and multiinstrumentalist Ryan Currie, Quinn has crafted a classicist folkpop album with a slight countryrock vibe in the spirit of such seminal West Coast artists as the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. In fact, fans of his most recent employer will be pleasantly surprised that Quinn seems equally as enamored with sunny melodies, jangly 12string guitar lines, and gushing harmonies. Vocally, Quinn has a pleasingly soft and laidback style, bringing to mind both Gene Clark and more uncannily, Stone Canyon Bandera Rick Nelson. Tracks such as the sparkling "What Am I Supposed to Do," "Happy," and "I'll Lay You Down" are absolutely perfect pop songs that reveal the longtime percussionist'...s knack for mixing crisp rhythms, catchy melodies, and heartfelt lyrics. This stuff is so beautiful in its simplicity it's a wonder Quinn didn't step out from the kit earlier. North Pole would be a great album, but for a guy who (up until this album) spent his career backing others, it's an utter triumph. - Matt Collar, All Music Guide Read more Less