Stan are Neil Archer and Tim Smith, multi-instrumentalists who met via the Internet and have now been together for around three years and “Lostforwords” is the duo’s third release and one which sees them collaborating with some highly respected musicians including top Detroit hip hop artist Leaf Erikson, Blake Eerie and multi award winning UK blues vocalist Maria Daines.

Over eleven tracks the band cover a lot of musical ground and you get the feeling that Messers Archer & Smith have the attitude of “if it sounds good let's use it”. That attitude always leads to variety but it also sometimes takes the music down dead ends and, without sounding over critical, there are a fair few moments on this release which just amble along then fizzle out. Opener “Lostforwords” has a nice charm and is fairly catchy but the vocals are out of tune just a bit too often for this reviewer. To be fair maybe it’s artistic license and a way of getting the character's emotions across, at least the rap from Leaf Erikson does add some class. “Stan Dup” actually has a great chorus with a nice sixties trippy dance club feel but the following effort, “Audrey Hepburn”, is one that does sound disjointed and musically goes up one of those dead ends mentioned earlier.

“Without A Sound (Laura’s Song)” has potential to become something special and “Lullaby From The Drive” shows some song writing and arrangement flair and is finally blessed with a vocal that's in tune. ”Darshan” is a pretty instrumental which leads into “The Stalker” which is blessed with some nice organic and tasty guitar tones but as a musical statement sounds a bit chaotic. “The Lounge Lizard” develops into a fine track and with a great performance form Maria Daines and is slightly sultry and well arranged but there are a few moments when you cringe at the some of the notes on the male vocal lines.

“Always Rushin’” had me doing that towards the fast forward button, whilst ”Leave Me Alone” and “Slash And Burn” also leave you under whelmed. You can’t deny that Smith & Archer are very talented individuals; one look at the amount of instruments they are accomplished in shows that to obvious effect. Unfortunately to “Lostforwords”, as an album, is patchy at best with, too be frank, some rather cringeworthy moments. It says something when the best moments come from the guest artists and this being the case maybe the lad’s talents would be better suited being utilized by other musicians.

Contact: www.myspace.com/stanuk