You probably had a pen pal at one time or probably not in these Facebook days when you will most likely have 10,213 pals that you have never ever penned. These Curious Thoughts are a sort of transatlantic musical pen pal duo made up of Sean Dunlop and Jamie Radford and “What Is It, and How Did It Get In There?” is their latest collaboration.
And an interesting collaboration it is too. Whilst it would no doubt have benefited from a bigger budget (and a few big buck guitar solos too, for that matter), the fact remains that These Curious Thoughts are a literate band. The lyrics may at times be a bit strange and sometimes redolent of the excesses of early seventies rock pretension but they bear up to close scrutiny well with ““Because She Is Love” easily winning the award for sounding like some song that you think you’ve heard of even if you can’t remember when.
“John Wayne” turns up the quirkiness and, if only it had some strings overdubbed, it would be perfect for those ELO revivalists out there. However, if you want proper over the top theatrics - and we do - then look no further than “Lost In Confusion” that leaps all over the history of rock like some genetically engineered hybrid of Kiss, Queen and Jim Croce.
The past may once again be the present for These Curious Thoughts but “What is it, and How Did It Get In There?” provides the proof that they are smarter than your average non cool cat.