Pendulum Swing starts off sounding like Henry Rollins meets Nada
Surf's 'Popular' but ends up sounding like third-rate Eddie Vedder.
Indeed comparisons between 'Invitation' and Sheryl Crow's 'All I Wanna
Do' are unavoidable. The lyrics are full of anger but the Man fails to
convey it convincingly. He doesn't seem angry and thus he doesn't seem
genuine. His lecturing about the world's evils grates and his use of
Americanisms like 'Yea' is tedious and cliched. Maybe, like the ad,
he's crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, but I just don't care.
In his favour some of the tunes are worthy of merit. A different style
of delivery could have made a significant difference.
by Neil Callanan