This is a review of "A Tale Of Two Cities" recorded by The Printed Sound. The review was written by Gavin Miller in 2005.

Nice name. Nice sound. First track ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is a nice little stomp of a song, all plodding beats and clean, choppy guitar stabs. It’s upbeat, lively and pretty, and not too many bands do that. Using Modest Mouse as a starting point, move forwards via Franz, maybe throw a little Bloc Party in there too, and you’re in the right ball park. A bit more of an imaginative mix would’ve helped, but I’m just nit picking now. It’s a fine effort, worthy of investigation.

Second track ‘Ariel’ is a more subdued affair, with a melancholic chorus line and a beautiful little chord change, it sees the band enter a more thoughtful, downbeat territory, but again, managing to pull it off. The vocals are nice, and you can just feel the longing in the refrain of “oh, oh, Ariel”. Although you get the impression lead singer Rob Pye ain’t singing to either a box of washing powder or an animated mermaid, so whoever she is, Ariel’s a lucky girl.

In all, this is a well thought out set of songs, recorded nicely and with some quality tunes, The Printed Sound will no doubt go on to do some good things. The songs could do with a bit of a polish and a lick of paint, but that’s still a minor concern for them at the moment. There’s a lot of promise here.