It’s his second for Little Steven Van Zandt\u2019s Wicked Cool label after 2024\u2019s Basement Sparks<\/em>, and it’s another hugely enjoyable listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might have come across him before as frontman of Camden glam-rock-pop outfit Last Great Dreamers, where he honed his skills across four well-received albums before launching a solo career in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and his band \u2013 Richard Davies (guitar), Richie Poynton (bass), Neil Scully (keyboards) and Rik Pratt (drums) \u2013 worked on Uncommon Side Effects<\/em> with producer Dave Draper (The Professionals\/The Wildhearts\/Dodgy) at his Old Cider Press Studios in Worcestershire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is 10 tuneful slices of glam-tinged power-pop of a calibre which would have made him a huge star if it this record had been made at the end of the ’70s.<\/p>\n\n\n Valentine wears his influences on his sleeve – Cheap Trick, The Cars, a dash of Ramones here, a touch of T-Rex there. It’s a heady mix, and he’s a singer-songwriter of rare talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The album begins with NY UAP<\/em>, a keyboard-soaked tale of extraterrestrial intervention, and it’s a great taste of what’s to follow, with hooks aplenty and a great singalong chorus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High In The Underground<\/em> has a riff which recalls The Who’s Baba O’Reilly<\/em> and a great driving rhythm, and The Other Side<\/em> sounds like prime era Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You Are The Jet <\/em>is a wistful tale of suburban love gone wrong, and could be from any Ash album in the last 30 years, while Loneliest Part<\/em> is a reflective <\/p>\n\n\n\n The riff-filled Tiger On Glass<\/em> lifts the mood again, despite being about an imminent break-up, while Hanging On A Dream<\/em> is a more melancholy number about drifting through life and coping with hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only real change of pace is on Half Moon Pendant<\/em>, an acoustic love song, but it’s back to foot to the floor rock ‘n’ roll for the closing one-two of the punky Temporary Buzz<\/em> and the message of hope that is When The Light Has Gone<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s lots to enjoy in this album, and it’s one you’ll keep coming back to time and again. 8\/10.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ALBUM REVIEW: Marc Valentine – Uncommon Side Effects (Wicked Cool)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,2802,2806],"tags":[3354,3355,3356],"class_list":["post-13645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-review","category-power-pop","category-punk-rock-n-roll","tag-marc-valentine","tag-uncommon-side-effects","tag-wicked-cool"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/marc-valentine-pic-by-will-robinson.jpeg?resize=640%2C427\")