Scout - Someplace Would Be Nice

All Music Guide

Someplace Would Be Nice is, amazingly, Scout's first CD release after nearly a decade of shifting lineups, various record labels and numerous seven-inch singles released under two different band names. Fortunately, as this disc indicates, the intervening years were time well spent. Someplace Would Be Nice is by far the band's strongest effort, both in terms of material and performance. The opening track, "Always Waiting," is an excellent, but fairly straight-ahead, pop-rocker with shades of Nirvana. Track two ("Always Waiting"), however, is an absolutely gorgeous ballad that for the first time reveals guitarist/singer Ashen Keilyn to be a fully developed songwriter of the highest order. Special mention should also be made of Keilyn's deep, incredibly sensual voice, which is one of those rare instruments able, by timbre alone, to simultaneously inspire euphoria and communicate the most profound of human sorrows. Drummer Nigel "Lou" Rawles and bassist Rimas Rimeza are locked in on the vi...be from note one, alternately rocking out and playing with amazing delicacy. Lyrically, the songs are infused with an overwhelming feeling of lost hope and subsequent resignation. Subtle touches of various vintage keyboards and dulcimer only heighten the effect and help to provide an absolutely chilling listening experience. - Pemberton Roach, All Music Guide Read more Less