EVERYBODY’S FAVOURITE
The Flood
****
ALL the great writers take us deeper into ourselves and at the same time make us more worldly-wise. The Flood’s Kevin Bennett is no exception.
Everybody’s Favourite is a little more introverted than the band’s past two offerings and I’m guessing some of these ballads of lovers, relationships and family had their gestation when Bennett was writing the material that appeared on his albums with James Gillard. The Flood’s fourth album is their second as a four-piece, and despite the well-credentialed guest musos, a distinct sound is emerging. No Golden Guitars this year, just a wider audience. My favourite band should be everybody’s.
DAC CROKER, Newcastle Herald, 29 January 2008
the flood
everybody’s favourite
****
Inching ever closer to the soulful sounds of Nashville’s Lambchop, Australia’s premier backporch-rock combo keep things relatively downbeat during their fourth LP. Main man Kevin Bennett — who could pass as Tim Finn’s country cousin, incidentally — is an eloquent singer / storyteller, while his tight band smoothly shifts gears between low-key acoustica and dusty twang. Bennett writes a great ballad, too, as proved by It’s You and the title track. The Flood play the Vanguard on Feb 8th.
JEFF APTER, Sydney Morning Herald Friday 1 February 2008
Everybody’s Favourite
The Flood
They get tagged as a country band but there’s a lot more to this sharp, tight four-piece than that. There’s (sic) elements of blues, pop, rock and, yes, country in their sound. Despite the inclusion of tunes like the ever-so-slightly calypso fun of Can’t Work No Longer, this album is a more introspective effort than some of their previous releases. The album standout is the first track; at less than a minute Nick and Elliot is a beautifully fragile tune.
Illawarra Mercury, Glen Humphries, Thursday 6th March 2008
DIG
New Music: The Flood -
Feature Album
Everybody's Favourite - The Flood
The Flood are a high quality Australian four-piece band. Many of the country albums made in Australia will feature at least one of the members playing on it - but they are not a 'country' band...
Sure, there are country influences, but there is also soul and rock.
Singer and guitarist Kevin Bennett writes great songs - love songs, songs of friendships, songs about places and the past - there's even political songs (if you count the world's over population and climate change as political). The band all work in the service of the songs - none of the playing is flashy for it's own sake, even though there's some flash keyboard work from Tim Wedde.
Simply a very good album from one of the best bands around.
Stuart Matchett, DIG, 14 February 2008
Everybody’s Favourite – The Flood
Border Mail
Everybody’s Favourite is a welcome follow-up to The Flood’s highly acclaimed ARIA-nominated album The Late Late Show, which earned the band a Golden Guitar in 2006.
The Flood’s songwriting force is Kevin Bennett, whose talents permeate this appealing 14-track album, particularly on Rockdale, a song about boyhood mates growing up in Sydney and on Down The River, a beautiful tale of betrayal and hurt. Can’t Work No Longer is the appealing first single from the album, spiced with lively organ riffs courtesy of keyboard player Tim Wedde.
Blues, roots and country fans alike should enjoy the easy going blend of well-crafted, soulful tracks.
Peter Batson, Border Mail, 21 Feb 2008
Everybody’s Favourite – The Flood
Musical talent at it’s very best abounds with this band. Their last album The Late Late Show won Tamworth’s Golden Guitar for Group Of The Year in ’06. They have been referred to in music reviews as the best country rock band in Australia since the Dingoes, and a listen to this CD will soon prove that statement right.
This album is bound to be a contender for the nominations for the 2009 Golden Guitars, without a word of doubt. Pure professionalism shines all through this album both musically and vocally. Fourteen brand new songs compliment this CD including the popular first single/video clip ‘Can’t Work No Longer’, which is a great introduction for all country music fans.
Featuring Kevin Bennett on vocals, James Gillard on bass, Tim Wedde on accordion and keyboards, and Scott Hills on drums, plus cameos from other industry luminaries like Glen Hannah, Bill Chambers and Sam Hawksley, this is a hot release.
CHARLIE SPARROW, Blues Country Magazine, April 2008
Everybody’s Favourite – The Flood
There’s always a delicious anticipation before the release of a new album from The Flood – and for this Flood victim, it was well worth the wait. Here, on Everybody’s Favourite, is another collection of well crafted songs destined to become old friends. With the exception of the first single, Can’t Work No Longer, all songs come from the pen of Kevin Bennett, with just two co-writes – Sam Hawksley on the fast-moving Come Tomorrow, and Michael Muchow, on the movingly beautiful Serve You Well. The set opens with the haunting refrain, the album’s dedication piece to Nick and Elliot and launches into a Cajun influenced love song, Country Girl.
The best thing about this album is that when you go to a Flood gig, the sound you hear on this disc is faithfully reproduced. There’s no cast of thousands augmenting this band. Standouts for me, well, tracks 1 to 15 for starters. And the new look album art and booklet is a first. There’s nothing not to like about this one.
Anna Rose, Capital News, March 2008
01: Nick & Elliott
