I’m Lancashire Hot-potty!
Some bands have to worry about that bothersome ‘second’ album - the one that the fans are gagging for, and hoping that it will be just as good as the debut , and building up a mass hysteria likened to Beatles-mania. Well, whilst those cheeky-chaps Take That may’ve caused a few flustered fillies pre-release fever, Comedy-Folk heroes The Lancashire Hotpots turn up the fever pitch by eleven on the hugely anticipated follow up to the fantastic, ‘Never Mind The Hotpots’, with the equally thigh-slapping and rib-tickling album of ‘Pot Sounds’ (yep, The Sex Pistols to The Beach Boys, the eagle-eyed and well musically educated of you will realise!).
First track is the first single off of the album, ‘Keys, Wallet, Phone’ which tells the sad tale of getting old and forgetting the three most popular items you tend to forget. Next is one of the best songs on here, ‘I Fear IKEA’. This is classic Lancashire Hotpots. To the backing of the Irish classic ‘Irish Rover’ we get the following choice lyrics, “It’s a good 10 mile walk, if you just want a shelf // Hang on? You want me t’go int ware’ouse and pick it up myself?! // Well, I struggled with trolley, didn’t get very far // And the boxes were that big, they wouldn’t fit in the car! // That’s why I fear IKEA // I won’t go there again! // I don’t want a bookcase called Billy // or a ta-ble called Sven!”
Following on for the previous albums song ‘I Met A Girl On MySpace’ we have this time, ‘I Heart YouTube’, all about the funny things that you get on YouTube, especially if you search for Queen’s song ‘Flash’! Great stuff! Then in ‘Uncle Bernard’ we have a great song about reminiscing of life in the ‘80’s that has a chorus a bit like that school choir one about how they love their Grans. Choice lyrics, “Pat Sharp’s hair wasn’t so, ridiculous // Freddie Mercury’s tash weren’t that, conspicuous (nobody knew back then!) // MTV were still showing vids // and you could still leave Michael Jackson with your kids! // It seems like a lifetime ago!” Then in ‘Deirdre’ with a Country & Western backbeat, we have the perils of what could happen when you file share your new Westlife album…
Now if you want a short, sharp shot of topical humour then that will be, ‘Don’t Make The Polar Bears Cry’ that is a funky jig of a song about climate change, recycling, green travel, not using the ‘Stand By’ button, and installation, to name but a few! Then in ‘ESC, ALT & F4’ we are given some advice as how to get rid of a window on your internet, just in case your ‘browsing them rudey websites’ and your wife is doing ‘Big shop’ or ‘at t’Bingo’ and makes an unexpected return! This is followed by the great ‘CHAV’ that was the second of the double A-side single release with ‘Keys, Wallet, Phone’. It’s another great song!
“Jackets and jeans! // Jackets and jeans!” starts ‘Indie Disco’ as we get many of the popular Indie bands name dropped in a comical way (“There’s more white shoes than Miami Vice // They play Kaiser Chiefs, not once but twice!”). Next in ‘BOGOFF’ we get the amusing tales of what we buy when we see things that are Buy One Get One Free, to a tune that is similar to ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. Then The Lancashire Hotpots flex their drinking muscles in ‘The Beer Olympics’, where Bernard Thresher suggests that “So getting bladdered now becomes intensive training // And I’m exercising at the pub week in week out // And I’ve got on a retainer // Johnny Vegas as my personal trainer // we’re drinking, bitter, lager, cider, ale and stout!” ‘On The Box’ describes how there is nothing on the telly, whilst last song, ‘The Girl From Bargain Booze’ is a loose resemblance in tune to Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’, and it works perfectly with the comedy of the lyrics like, ‘I gave her a tenner, and I were caught off guard // She were like Angelina Jolie, in a tabard // Right then I knew I had to choose // between the missus…and the girl from Bargain Booze! // (Chorus) She gives me hope // She gives me dreams // She gives me free Harvey Bristol Cream // She’s amazing, she’s fine // She’s doing Gordon’s gin for £10.99 // And she whispers and calls me darling // as we roll around the cans of Carling // She’s got me on my knees // as we kissed by the Boddies and Tetley’s // She’s got me all confused // I love her… the girl from Bargain Booze!”
Once again TLH (that’s a funky anagram for you, kids!) show that their strengths lie in humorous lyrics that are topical, and therefore we can all relate to, with background Folk tunes that are either replicas or close-cousins to tunes that we already know and love! It’s hard to compare this album with the previous, as both are on par. They will never change musically, and there will be no duets with the likes of Jay-Z, nor a backbeat by Timberlake, so we can just be happy with the thirty odd songs that we already have that are great. A bit like The Wurzels jamming with a couple of Goldie Looking Chain, The Lancashire Hotpots may sound like Peter Kay, fronting a Folk band, but all of this only goes to flaunt their strengths a little more. Nice one.