22-20s - Got It If You Want It Review

On their most recent release, Got It If You Want It, 22-20s pay tribute to their influences throughout nearly every track on the record but fail to emerge as their own band. It’s not an uncommon problem but it’s rarely as prevalent and as evident as it is here. Worse yet is the bands tendency to drag perfectly fine songs a minute and half too long and dull their impact in doing so. Now, that’s not to say these songs are bad because by and large they’re solid throughout. They’ve got all the classic elements of great songs, it’s just that there’s really nothing new or exciting going on in them which forces the sound into something that comes off like true retread more than playful re-invention.


There’s no doubt in my mind that 22-20s are talented enough to pull off just about any sound they want so it can become really frustrating to hear them settle on merely “good”. None of the songs on Got It If You Want It are standout songs. Instead, they’re songs that sound good but tremendously over-familiar. Most of their influences are easy to pick out over the course of any given song because they’re the kind of bands that influence next to everyone (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, MC5, U2, Jesus and Mary Chain). Which makes it strange that 22-20s are at their most intriguing while channeling and implementing the psychedelic flourishes of late Beatles work.


While it’s true that none of the individual songs stand out on Got It If You Want It as individual highlights, there’s several that are filled with standout moments. Usually, they’re the moments that play on 22-20s psych-pop influences like the syncopation and slide guitar on “White Lines” and the shuffling drums and bell taps on “Little Soldiers”. However, these two tracks also serve ultimately as platforms for the vocal performances, which are all fine. They’re tight in control, composition, and melody but bring the focus back to what plagues the record most: over-familiarization. Their frontman’s vocals fall half-way between Bono and Matt Vasquez giving the listener the allusion they’re already familiar with 22-20s yet again....full text Named for the Skip James song "22-20 Blues," the 22-20s hail from Lincolnshire, England, and mix blues, rock, folk, and country influences into a sound that got the quartet noticed early in its career. Vocalist/guitarist Martin Trimble and bassist Glen Bartup had played together in local bands for several years, but formed the 22-20s in mid-2002, while they were still both in their early twenties. Keyboardist Charly Coombes and a series of drummers rounded out the band's initial lineup before the band settled on James Irving as their permanent drummer. The group's consistent gigging caught the ears of Heavenly Records, which signed the band late in 2002; early the following year, the 22-20s released their first single, Such a Fool, as a limited-edition 7". Soon after, they made their first U.S. appearance at the 2003 Coachella Festival; during their U.K. tour later that spring, they also recorded the 05-03 EP, which previewed a handful of their songs in concert....full text Named for the Skip James song “22-20 Blues,” the 22-20s hail from Lincolnshire, England, and mix blues, rock, folk, and country influences into a sound that got the quartet noticed early in its career. Vocalist/guitarist Martin Trimble and bassist Glen Bartup formed the 22-20s in mid-2002, while they were still both in their early twenties. Keyboardist Charly Coombes and a series of drummers rounded out the band’s initial lineup before the band settled on James Irving as their permanent drummer. The band then released their self-titled studio debut album in September 2004.
22-20’s disbanded in 2005 but got back together in 2008 after the band’s former manager offered Trimble and Bartup some studio time, and in need of a drummer called up Irving to play on the sessions. At the time, the band didn’t know whether the tracks would ever be released or if they did, whether they would be as 22-20s. The band were joined by second guitarist Dan Hare, an old school friend and formerly of fellow Sleaford band ‘The Jubilees’ Coombes was not present and is no longer involved with the band.

The band announced in December 2011 the release next year of the bands 3rd studio album “Got It If You Want It” and confirmed plans to tour it....full text