The story goes that Derry-based tunesmith and Best Boy Grip main man Eoin O’Callaghan has been writing songs and perfecting his craft for over a decade now. This explains why for a first release, the Barbara EP has a mature feel and polished sound you don’t get on other debuts, boasting tightly constructed songs and several killer hooks and melodies.
Made up of four short tracks primarily centred on women, love, and relationships – the Barbara EP is, if a little familiar thematically, thoroughly refreshing from a musical standpoint. O’Callaghan’s terrific piano playing is the main driving force throughout and as the lead instrument it really breaks through clichés and is at the heart of a unique record. Melodically the record is excellent – the vocal lines are catchy and hummable, the piano riff that kicks off the album instantly grabs and holds your interest, the harmonies are simple and effective, the nice finishing touches such as the one guitar solo on the record and the odd strings flourish work really well.
The production on the record is very slick and of excellent quality for a first release, giving plenty of space to O’Callaghan’s strongly shaped pop hooks. The sound quality is terrific and it’s a really well produced EP. Overall with such good production and strong melodies, the Barbara EP feels like an updating of a good old fashioned pop record and it brings to mind O’Callaghan’s fellow Derryman, chamber pop maestro Neil Hannon.
If the Barbara EP has one flaw it lies in the lyrics which tend to be hit-and-miss. This could be down to the record’s subject matter. It’s very hard to say something new about love and relationships on record – A topic that everyone in pop music has covered at one point or another, and done better with. O’Callaghan does try to get around this by focussing on specifics, and he has some degree of success with this approach.
Ultimately though, an EP is about demonstrating potential. The Barbara EP is a well crafted piece of piano-driven pop, and a really promising release from an original band. Judging by the reception the EP has gotten so far, further releases and gigs from Best Boy Grip should be hotly anticipated.