Call Upon The Author

Small Town Eyes is a decent enough debut from the Youtube sensation, Justin Sandercoe. Since teaching the nation how to play guitar via Youtube, the Australian born singer/songwriter enjoyed some time touring with Katie Melua then withdrew into a studio to record his debut album.
At first it doesn’t leave much of an impression except for the fact that Sandercoe is a gifted musician, yet despite his obvious rapport with the guitar, his debut fails to strike the right chord. He switches from Forevergreen, a folksy rock song with a catchy chorus, to the gentle instrumental of From Katie’s Window then onto the pop tinged I Know? While it is a good display of his range and the lyrics show a good understanding of the world around him, nothing about the entire compilation of songs scream anything more than competent.
Until of course you watch the DVD that comes with it. Along with a worrying obsession with Skippy the Kangaroo it presents a behind the scenes look at the amount of work that has gone into creating Small Town Eyes. Sandercoe explains briefly about the odd concoction of instruments that are scattered throughout the album, most of which he plays himself. It isn’t until you get a look at the sheer concentration and sweat put in to make this release the best it could possibly be, that you realise just how much effort and how much work it has taken.
Listening to the album after watching the DVD, you listen with a new appreciation of the sounds that are created and mixed together, while it is still by no means a masterpiece, it might actually be worth taking the risk with this one. People who have been fans of Sandercoe since his Youtube days also won’t be disappointed. As well as the behind the scenes DVD, Sandercoe talks you through each song, teaching you how to play them on the guitar.