Album Review:  Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You  (Chugg Music)

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Hard-working brothers Oli Leimbach and Louis Leimbach deliver a sparkling gem of an album with their own specially developed brand of Aussie Power Pop.

Playing in and around Sydney since 2009, they came under the wing of Ira Davies from Icehouse.

They scored opening spots behind a reformed Icehouse. They have been on the road extensively to a growing fan base.

Lime Cordiale have a rich sound of many styles and influences. The band is completed by James Jennings drums, Felix Bornholdt keyboards, Nick Polovineo trombone and guitar and Brendan Champion trumpet.

That’s Life begins the album with a smooth lounge soul groove. Good strong vocals, a very polished production sound.

Robbery starts with a Chic-style chunky Funk/Disco bass line which the drums pick up. Guitar adds a chicken scratch rhythm line. The brothers sing in a Rocksteady Ska style echoing the Two-Tone groups of England in the late Seventies. A song the Rolling Stones could have fit into any of their post Exiles Seventies albums.

There’s been a robbery/ She stole my heart/ She had enough of me.

No Plans to Make Plans is very similar in sound again, horns accentuating the Two-Tone Rocksteady style. Matched with lyrics which are wry, cynical and funny. At the back end we hear a collage of quirky horns and squawks worthy of Pepper Beatles.

Inappropriate Behaviour is a blast of Power Pop, melodic and sung with a scathing lyric to a manipulating harpy. Full of hooks and tempo changes. A sister to the Flying Burrito’s Christine’s Tune.

Addicted to the Sunshine is an uplifting tune lyrically and musically. Moves from pop to smooth soul, keyboards sounding like sparklers. As long as we keep darkness out of sight.

On Our Own is very close to Bob Marley in vocal style and lyrics. It doesn’t stay there though; the singer moves into blue-eyed soul.

Screw Loose has a Lee Scratch Perry reggae rhythm with a myriad of instruments stitched together which bounces in every direction. The vocals are Reggae Rap, a scathing and cynical put-down lyric. Drums accentuate a ska beat. You got a screw loose.

A different tempo with Elephant in the Room. Piano is the lead instrument and the singing has a Randy Newman feel. Humorous song about a relationship and I haven’t yet worked out what the elephant is.

Can’t Take All the Blame is a little soft Pop/Soul gem with a distinct Strawberry Fields refrain. The singer becomes more and more emotional whilst little bursts of flutes, synthesizers, a mellotron and random background speech gives it a surreal air.

Dear London is a song of regret, an homage to the great city built around a late Sixties style pop tune.  A complex production but with a lightness of touch.

A bright shiny melodic song to end this album, Following Fools.

Follow in the footsteps of fuckwits/ We just wanna love you.

I appreciate the sentiments of the brothers as they still have the spectre of quarantine hanging over Australia. However, they have given us this antidote to the spiritual malaise. A superbly crafted Pop album. A myriad of influences but the sound seems distinctively their own.

Rev Orange Peel    

Click here to watch the 13th Floor interview with Lime Cordiale.

Rev Orange Peel
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