Don't be asking me to hang a curtain rail for you

Continuing my journey across the output of The Bard Of Barking...

Tooth & Nail (2013)


After the uptick in quality for the last album, we come to one I don't think I've ever heard, although I must heard some of the tracks live at some point, mustn't I?

1. January Song
This is a bit close to that old Mermaid Avenue sound for me - I've no idea why he tries to sing high on some songs because it just doesn't end well for anyone.

2 .No One Knows Nothing Anymore
This one's OK, but not a classic - he's sounds tired on it and close to giving up, which isn't the Billy we know! It does have some nice pedal steel guitar on it though.

3. Handyman Blues
This is almost Bill being funny!

4. I Ain't Got No Home
This is another slow one, but I actually quite like this one - he's still sounding beaten, but there's an argument it works for the song. Wikipedia tells me this is (yet another) Woody Guthrie song.

5. Swallow My Pride
Another slow one - fine, but nothing more.

6. Do Unto Others
The pace is upped slightly here even if he's not exactly speeding. I quite liked it though.

7. Over You
More slowish blues - he's not sounding very happy here.

8. Goodbye, Goodbye
This is quite a nice lament - but he's really not going out of his way to cheer me up here.

9. There Will Be a Reckoning
I quite like this one, but he seems to be singing it a few notes too low.

10. Chasing Rainbows
I quite like this one, but it's yet another slow one.

11. Your Name On My Tongue
Another decent one that he's singing too low on.

12. Tomorrow's Going To Be A Better Day
Finally, a slightly upbeat note - it doesn't exactly race along but it does have a generally positive vibe and some cheery whistling!

What a curious album - there's very little hateful about it, but it's all very slow and downbeat. And there's no politics either - what is going on? I'm going to pick "Handyman Blues", "Do Unto Others" and "Tomorrow's Going To Be A Better Dat" for the playlist - not because I particularly loved any of them, but I didn't hate them and they represent the album well.

Wikipedia has two sentences on the album - one telling us it is exists and one telling us the critics liked it well enough. Bizarrely, it also has three sentences on the video for "Handyman Blues" which was directed by Johnny Vegas and features quite the cast of Billy, Johnny, Stewart Lee, Kevin Eldon, Phill Jupitus, Samuel West, Neil Morrissey, Ricky Grover and Ross Noble! And it's actually really well done and quite amusing, based around a self-help group for DIY failures. As I previously mentioned, the critics were actually pretty nice about the album and it also did reasonably well commercially, spending three weeks in the chart and peaking at #13.

Thinking some more about this album, I think it's probably a good album if you're looking for a downbeat, world-weary, American folk album - but that's not what I listen to Billy for. Whether that's my fault or his, I wouldn't like to say - but either way, I doubt I'll be revisiting this.

Mr Love & Justice - a massive return to form
The Million Things That Never Happened - pretty decent indeed

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm not wishing I was back in the USA, coz I come from Morecambe and the skies are grey

Image
Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 15/11/24 : Earth To Grace - Massive Wagons I will listen to the new entry at #1, but there's absolutely NO WAY I'm writing a whole entry on it - so instead we have this which I know absolutely nothing about. But it has to be better than the abomination at #1. Well, it's something you don't hear too much of these days - I guess "hard rock" is probably as good a description as any. It’s not going to win any awards for musical complexity but it’s quite catchy - I was r eminded of Gary Moore in his heavier days that teenage me used to like. It also certainly doesn't take itself too seriously - "Free And Easy" tells us "I don't shoot guns, it's not healthy - I drive a Ford C-Max I got off my dad and it's filthy" and "Rabbit Hole" offers up an amusingly sceptical take on conspiracy theories and then abruptly ends "Auf wiedersehen, adios - this song fucking ...
Read more

And she'll tease you, she'll unease you

Image
  A first for me! Cheap tickets often pop up to various All Points East events through work, but it often coincides with holiday time - and the one time I did make an effort to go a train strike prevented me from making out into the wilds of East London. Until now when, for no obvious reason, I went to a day when I had no great interest in the headlining act. It's based in Victoria Park in Hackney and it's a BIG site. The set-up is similar to Reading Festival with two main stages which alternate between acts, involving a lot of audience migration across the site. The distance between the stages might even be bigger than at Reading, but there's also a sizeable tented stage about halfway between so you can always stop off if you're feeling tired - and I did, on several occasions! Also, unlike both Reading and BST Hyde Park, there is a lot of shaded area on site which was also much used throughout the day whilst a LOT of music was being enjoyed, because I saw... Liana Flor...
Read more

Who are ya?!?

Image
A point each for the name, the song and the artist. 1. Her boyfriend’s a dick – he brings a gun to school 2. He took me to the future in the flux thing and I saw everything 3. He lives on the second floor 4. She told my baby we'd danced 'til three, then she looked at me 5. He tempted her with his treacle tart and his tasty wholemeal bread (2 names) 6. He’s stepping through the door 7. His girlfriend's pregnant too - he’s about to be a father 8. She’s gotta be strong to fight them, so she’s taken lots of vitamins 9. She came from Miami, F.L.A - hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A. 10. Her smile is like a breath of spring, her voice is soft like summer rain 11. He’s darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there 12. He was jamming good with Weird and Gilly 13. Two American kids doin' the best they can (2 names) 14. I just act like I don’t remember and she just acts like she don’t care 15. She got a double wide and she rode a plane 16. You could have heard a...
Read more