Camel Cocktail - Take a Sip​…

​Camel Cocktail

Take a Sip​…
self-released; 2017

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Ben Woods (guitar/vocals) and Harry Volker (bass/vocals) are Came Cocktail. The duo from the UK recently released Take A Sip… which is a solid five-song EP showcasing a variety of acoustic songs. 

There is technically impressive guitar picking on these songs. You can hear this on the beginning moments of the opener “Saturated.” The vocals are mellow and the vocalist sings within a comfortable range. There is a trombone that is a nice addition but it also felt pretty far back in the mix. “Saturated” is one of the more upbeat songs on the EP.

Up next is “Echoes” which revolves around vocals, cello and guitar. The song sounds great with exceptional performances all around that had a lot of emotion in them. Up next is the percussive heavy “Shadow” which features an instrument called a cajon. It’s another well constructed song and I thought the way they used a new instrument on each track was beneficial. They close with “Scopolamine” which might contain the best vocal performance. Either way the vocal melody is memorable and I started to realize that the singer has a similar inflection to Morrissey.

I would have liked slightly better production. The EP is mixed fairly well but some more definition and clarity during some sections such as the percussion’s heavy part would have helped out.

Take a Sip​… is by no means reinventing the wheel but the songs are well constructed and also feel well sequenced. The decision to add additional instrumentation really helped the overall flow of the songs and gave them a slightly new flavor.

Take A Sip… is a solid EP and hopefully it gets the ball rolling for this duo. They have a good skill set and I hope to hear more soon

Become A Fan