Monsterpop

Fame and success are two things that often go hand in hand, but neither necessarily have anything to do with talent.

Some people are famous for doing very little, while others have success dropped into their laps due to being in the right place at the right time.

Talent, hard work and a sense of self belief may well get you far in life, but there are simply no guarantees that come with having any, or all of them, as positive attributes.

So with that said I am sure that pretty much everyone can name a friend who they know are supremely talented in what they do but are not getting the recognition that they so richly deserve.

For me that person is Jimmy Devlin aka Monsterpop.

Apart from being an all round good guy who has been supportive of all the things I do and who can be relied upon to step up when help is required, he is also as mentioned outrageously talented.

Give him a guitar and there’s not a lot he can’t do with it.

Throw a genre of music at him and he will master it.

Ask him to write a song and what he will come up with could sit comfortably on a top selling album.

Yet for one reason or another that success that his talents should provide him with has never materialized.

It’s not that he hasn’t had opportunities.

He’s been a member of a few bands who are much loved and some of them have taken him right to the cusp of wider recognition and then due to factors that are not within his control fell short of reaching the finishing line.

He’s not one to complain though.

Instead he will regale you with tales of the tours and television appearances that are humorously entertaining, and not once do they come close to being the “Glory Days” stories that lend themselves to the person claiming “I could have been a contender”.

It is certainly to his credit that the years haven’t left him burnt out and jaded as it has for so many others.

The man is in short a diamond.

In recent years, far from being idle, Jimmy has been offering six string support to both The Snipes and The Red Eyes.

Both of who are considered to be - not to be missed - examples of melodic punk rock at its finest.

And as a project that stands apart from playing in these bands he has his Monsterpop alter ego that allows him to flex his power pop muscles.

.With some kitchen session recording done he time after time drops little nuggets of power pop classics to the world that could have been recorded in the most luscious of studios.

Think Cheap Trick, think Jellyfish, think of any act that that has had some success in writing a hook that digs deep and wont let go and then think Monsterpop.

Over recent months he has journeyed out and made a few sporadic appearances as Monsterpop and played the songs acoustically, but he must be sick of me telling him to get a band up to speed and get out there to do the full electric show.

Anyway, the project and Jimmy are literally that good, and best of all is that you don’t have to take my word for it.

Instead all you have to do is go and listen to him here www.noisetrade.com/monsterpop/monsterpop and after you have done that then jump over to Facebook and show the man some love. 

Oh and here he is just messing about in his kitchen.