Saucy MonkyBeing immersed in the Irish music scene, it came as an oddity to come across Saucy Monky. There was no mention of them on the usual music repositories for local acts such as Breaking Tunes. A little bit of detective work and it emerges that Saucy Monky are actually based in Los Angeles. The connection to the Irish music scene is through vocalist and Irish native Annmarie Cullen. Given the locality of where the band was formed, Saucy Monky’s sound is unsurprisingly a mainstream commercial American rock sound from late 90’s /early 00’s. It is undoubtedly quite a radio friendly sound they are producing.

First song, Awkward is about meeting an ex at a party who is with someone else which we’re sure many of you have encountered – nothing lots of alcohol usually can’t fix.  The problem with this song was the verse which stutters along awkwardly. It doesn’t have any momentum. Just when you are about to give up on the song, an anthemic chorus kicks in. It was a shame the verse felt so musically forced as opposed to how more natural the music felt during the chorus.

A lot of what is to like and dislike about Awkward also applied to Slow Lane. The verses were largely forgettable while chorus has a certain sing-along quality. Final track Ghosts is a melancholy, slow-paced track.  After repeated listens, this song just lacks the hooks to stick in your mind. It’s sincere and well sung but that just isn’t enough. It could do with being more dynamic to maintain interest.

Overall the songs are a mixed bag and are inconsistent in quality, even within the songs. If Saucy Monky could extend the hooks of the choruses to the verses, then they would certainly have something promising on their hands. But for now what they have created is adequate and unremarkable.