Kevin Rowland's opening salvo was a ground-breaking brass bombardment, melding classic Stax soul with punk disenchantment.
Inelegantly lumped in with the ska/mod revival of the time, Rowland's mission statement opens with the buzz and hiss of a trawl through radio stations before launching into "Burn It Down", a full-on rage against the pretentious.
"Tell Me When My Light Turns Green" maintains the pace before the slow burning "I'm Just Looking".
"Geno", a massive UK hit which celebrated the great Geno Washington, ramps it up again and then the band give a genius run-through to Chuck Wood's "Seven Days Is Too Long", a literal but masterful interpretation.
"I Couldn't Help It If I Tried", "Thankfully Not Living In Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply" and "Keep It" maintain the soul and feel of a speed driven all-nighter before the come-down track, "Love, Part One", Kevin's spoken word ode to, what? God? Love? Success?
Whatever, the album closes with it's second great success, "There There My Dear", returning to the themes of "Burn It Down".
Rowland ruled this band with an iron fist and went on to up the ante by sacking the lot of them and reinventing himself time and again. He's never released a bad record and we'll be seeing more of him in this space but for now
"Hey, Jimmy; for God's sake burn it down"...
Classic
ReplyDelete