As Josh Ramsay nears the 20-year mark in a gig which began at the tender age of 16 with the 2001 recording of the self-titled debut EP from Marianas Trench, one can safely say the 33-year-old Vancouver native is now, without question, the undisputed leader of the band. To date, under Ramsay’s stewardship, Marianas Trench have released five full length albums in 13 years, 2019’s Phantoms is their latest.
Make no mistake, this is the Josh Ramsay show. Ramsay’s list of credits on Phantoms is nothing short of exhausting: Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Drums, Bass, Programming, which begs the question; what exactly was left for fellow bandmates Matt Webb (guitar) Mike Ayley (bass) and Ian Casselman (drums) to do? Music and Lyrics: Josh Ramsay. Produced and arranged by Josh Ramsay. Engineered by Josh Ramsay, the list goes on and on. And so it is that the full responsibility for this thoroughly lacklustre light weight effort rests squarely on Ramsay’s shoulders.
Once upon a time Marianas Trench were youthful purveyors of punchy high impact pop rock cheerfully channelling 90’s powerpop heroes Jellyfish (Decided To Break It) and others.
Now in his mid 30s Ramsay sounds content aping Freddie Mercury and heritage act Queen in a thinly veiled attempt to cash in on the 70s rockers sudden resurgence following the success of the Oscar winning bio pic Bohemian Rhapsody and subsequent chart-topping soundtrack of the same name.
Thoroughly lacking in originality, spark and substance, Phantoms even manages to take the promising appearance of Ramsay’s Jellyfish hero Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and renders the performance barely noticeable if not for the credit on the back of the album. Fans of the multi instrumentalist keyboard player would be better served taking in his considerable contributions to the 2017 Roger Waters album Is This The Life We Really Want not to mention the two stellar 90s albums by Jellyfish themselves Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993).
If unchallenging easy listening radio friendly R&B pop rock is your thing James Bay does the whole thing much better on his 2018 sophomore album Electric Light, proving once again modern popular music doesn’t have to be boring, derivative, hookless and completely uninspired.
Rating 4/10
Star Rating 2/5
2019 Song Of The Day Club 8/52