If we're to believe the apparent tautology slapped atop their debut LP, Little Barrie are indeed Little Barrie. Whew. This much we also know: The Barrie in question is, presumably, frontman Barrie Cadogan, a stand-in ax-man on Morrissey's 2004 tour; he are Little Barrie. Bare-bones drummer Wayne Fulwood and nimble bassist Lewis Wharton round out the London trio; they are Little Barrie.
Ultimately, Little Barrie could be a miniature jam band. Barrie's unimpeachable guitar virtuosity is their centerpiece, reason enough to name the assemblage in his honor. On record, at least, Little Barrie eschew jam bands' unexpurgated wankery, but they do embrace the corresponding hippie aesthetic. Smell the patchouli: "Take a trip," Cadogan sings on breezy, hooky "Free Salute"-- managing to sound like Jacks White (vox) and Johnson (six-string)-- but neither he nor the persistent groove are going anywhere, maaan. On "Long Hair", long-hairs are repeatedly advised to "hide your face." Punning "Burned Out", "Greener Pastures", and (whoa after "Stones Reprise"!) "Stones Throw", further open the doors of Little Barrie's nostalgedelic perception. Hendrix is already inside, but so are Brown and Mayfield.
In these parts, of course, jam bands are rarely discussed, unless they're undercover as avant gardists from New York (Sonic Youth) or Cologne (Can). Though perhaps too meat-headed to really whole-lotta love, Little Barrie are too energetically melodic to dismiss completely. The presence of ex-Orange Juice leader Edwyn Collins helps. He produced the album shortly before being hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage, and he captures the band's raw enthusiasm, scratching it with workmanlike feedback in all the right spots (like, right behind the ears).
When the recycled smoke clears, Little Barrie could use more songwriting help from their patrons (Moz, Collins) and less hu-huh inspiration from Ocean Colour Scene's lobotomy-trad bong. "These are the ghosts I've made," to quote former tourmates The Bees (aka A Band of Bees), who share the band's Lot's-wife-like leanings. Little Barrie have made, conjured up, or flat-out copied some of late-60s British rock's most venerated ghosts, and a few more from classic funk, all with mixed results. Perhaps the album's title isn't tautological, after all; Little Barrie know their name, but they don't yet seem to know who they are.
