Ilegal Songs
Such is the impact and influence of a certain chap from Essex, that one man crusade against injustice and disappointment and our very own answer and tribute to Woody Guthrie, we are plagued to endless contenders to the 'Bard of Barking's democratically endorsed throne. Lest we forget that Mr Billy Bragg is still alive and kicking against the state as well as he ever did.
Obviously taking the torch from such idols is to be lauded, if just for thepolitical ideals, state of mind and activism they heartily encourage. What may be forgotten is that messrs Dylan and Bragg were and are fantastic SONGWRITERS as well. The wonderful music perfectly in tandem with the vehement passion, revolutionary fervour and lyrical genius. In recent times, there has been a spate of copyists, for obvious reasons, and I am pained to slag them off in any way as I agree and support them wholeheartedly, well at least half-heartedly.
The likes of Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly and Frank Turner, though both witty and righteous troubadours, are sadly lacking in the tune department, which only diminishes their message. It is a crying shame that Turner's previous band MILLION DEAD imploded, as their music matched the raucous spirit of the words better and more effectively than he does alone. Of course, there can be nothing quite like a lone voice crying and kicking out at the pricks so here goes...
I want to bang my fucking head against a brick wall after listening to this. The disappointment is so tangible I can feel it punch me in the face. John Parkes has created 14 of the most fantastic, angry, funny, challenging, inspirational and biting sets of lyrics I have seen, recently or otherwise. The pointing out and tearing down of the bullshit and oppressive laws of the land is both so wonderfully perceptive and thumpingly direct it will induce a fit of riotous protest and laughter in equal measure. Hailing in a 'Second Golden Age of Protest' and declaring himself leader of the angry rabble, we salute and follow eagerly with wicked grins for po-faced snarls..
The problem is that the songs are sadly CRAP. Stripping down to an acoustic guitar and trademark harmonica seems like a wonderful idea, especially given the gravitas of the lyrics. Unfortunately the chords and arrangements are so predictably textbook they are numbingly boring musically. At first the words are THAT good that you think that it doesn't matter, but it slowly saps the energy from your otherwise newly nourished social conscience and stops you in your steel toe-capped Dr Marten shaped tracks. If any album would be better
as spoken word poetry IT IS THIS ONE. I am so pissed off writing this because this could go somewhere really special.
You may disagree and I hope you fucking do, give me the finger and sing out these words at the top of your voices, perhaps the sentiment will kill the medium given time, but the two halves don’t quite add up to a whole.
That aside, All of the modern ills and attitudes of Britain and the Western world are not just touched upon here, but bruised, broken and burned alive at the stake. There's WAR ("Terrorism is glorious/Terrorism is great/Terrorists founded the United States), RELIGION ("Your religion is a weirdo, a slut, a whore and dog/But I quite like them, so perhaps not"), SEX ("Lets make love together if the government says OK/Let's make love together when the consent forms are stamped and filed away") and CONSUMERISM ("I don't do Valentines Day and all those multiples of 365 don't mean much to me"), the latter including an often sweet touch ("But I could love you...") despite it all..
One song that defies the poor music is 'Left of Centre', the entire lyric worthy of tattooing across Tony Blairs fat stupid head. Listing quite astutely the lies and crimes of the New Labour Government next to their now laughable claim of the song’s title. The most potent of which being the cynical boot in the crotch of "We're left of centre - in a KEEP EM'POOR kind of way..."
The very concept of 'Illegal Songs' is enough to earn this a 13 out of 13, in a very similar manner to how NME handed a big round 10 out of 10 to the criminally flawed yet work of rampant rock 'n' roll genius that was the Manics' Generation Terrorists back in 1992.
For fucks sake, The press release even comes with a disclaimer warning about the content of 'direct challenges to the law'. I urge you all to check this out, even if it is just to read the what this disgraceful 'criminal' has written down..Magnificent and definitely on the side of the angels but terribly let down by a lack of musical spark. Fuck it, its a masterpiece.