‘It Ain’t Easy Being Mean’, yet another song in the mind bending series of releases which have come from Bath based band The Family Rain – this time it includes a brilliant collaboration with Dylan Cartlidge.
The Family Rain seem to have developed this really intriguing way of writing music that just manages to excite me every time I hear a new track. It’s almost like there are no boundaries or limits to their songwriting. They just seem to get more and more experimental and out-of-the-box with every single release that goes past. The last thing I expected this time out however, was a section of rap within the song. There are many things that I may have expected from this song but having the song feature rap within the verses would never have crossed my mind.
A personal favourite within this track is the detail of the vocal that comes just before the verse. It sounds like it’s playing from some old jukebox in a classic western film and this little detail just adds another whole dimension to this track.
The song goes from seeming like it might slip into some form of country and western track to having all the attitude and bounce of a track from the classic sound of American rap music. The sheer range in influence within the composition of this song makes it absolutely mind blowing to listen to.
Yet another stage in the build up to a much anticipated EP release from The Family Rain, if every song on the record has this level of intrigue to it then it’ll be hard to ever listen to anything else! Very exciting music to listen to, not to mention that with every release, this band just keep making you want more by constantly outdoing themselves.
Written by Simon Stirzaker
