(The following is part of a longer article by Elfyn Griffith in the July 2025 online edition of Louder Than War magazine. To read the full article, which includes reviews of albums by three other cool Bristol artists, go here.)
“Goldfinches‘ singer/songwriter and guitarist Shaun McCrindle, a former member of The Blue Aeroplanes, has been active in several bands in the city plying his craft over the years. Goldfinches new album Shanti Time was also released earlier this summer. ukgoldfinches.bandcamp.com/album/shanti-time
McCrindle has the gift of the singer-songwriter with songs and tunes that are insistently catchy and memorable, wearing their influences on their respective sleeves.
None more so than the third track Magical Smile – following on from the Irish-jig opener The Old World and the poignant title track Shanti Time, – which has strong echoes of Steely Dan in its feel, structure and vocals. A deep bass and a great break flooding in with those familiar rhythms…
The dramatic comic-opera of Impossible, with double-bass player James Anderson’s gruff old Bohemian vocal insert echoes Topol’s Fiddler on the Roof, while Queen of New York is imbued with a classically addictive underground acoustic hook which sticks in the mind.
The 60’s pop feel of Weird Jean harks to The Coral complete with a Hank Williams twanging guitar thrown in and McCrindle’s evocative and humorous lyrics (‘She took marine biology and with healthy irony she felt herself drawn to the water…’).
The vignette of humdrum existence Indifferent Day and the Spanish epic, again, 60’s groove of Fantastic Creature, precedes the beautiful folky bluesy Americana of The Salt Path, McCrindle joined by the captivating female vocals of Freddie Bullough, and the violin and bouzouki of Paul Meager and John Slattery painting the picture.
Follow them on ukgoldfinches“
Journey of Song 