The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

bennyboy said:
Never liked them back in the day and still found this poor from Happy hour to He ain't heavy,He's my brother.
Fast ones all the same tunes and vocals nothing special.
3/10.
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RobMCFC said:
Nailed it. I feel that way too after two listens.
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Does feel slightly sacrilegious but while listening and enjoying the thought popped into my head that it was a great tune that he had and why wouldn’t he make the most of it
 
mrbelfry said:
It's a catchy toe tapping easy listening 7 from more. As long as I'm not paying too much attention. Then it fails by the standard it sets for itself by being overly sincere and guilty of the same failings it critiques in Flag Day.

Stop reading here if you don't want me to annoy you.

I wrote a BBC sitcom just this morning. It's called Barge Life and features two middle aged men building a new life for themselves whilst traversing Britain on a barge.

Episode 1:
We open the episode with Dave at the small funeral of his mother. We find she died during the winter and she lived a frugal life. He is then going through her house and finds an envelope with £3,000 in cash with his name on it. His mum had managed to save so much for him by living with so little. Later he's in the pub with his mate Chippy mourning his mother and lamenting how the community she was raised in has been destroyed due to the influx of Londoners working at Media City. In a drunken stupor they come up with a plan to buy a barge from a local gypsy they know (Alan the Gypsy) and float it into the Salford Quays basin where they plan to spend their time insulting the employees of the BBC. Not knowing much about barges or canals they struggle to get it into the basin with hilarious results. Finally as the episode ends they get it into the right place and they cross out the previous name of the barge and rename it "The Onion".

Episode 2:
Dave and Chippy are causing a nuisance at Media City by insulting the employees and mooning the BBC office. We get some guest appearances from Gary Linekar and Anita Rani. They are confronted by a security guard who was raised in Ordsall and is sympathetic to Dave and Chippy's protests. However a over officious southern BBC employee is causing trouble for them, threatening them with the police and eviction etc. At some point Pudsy the Bear is drinking on The Onion before falling overboard and having to be rescued. The conflict between Dave, Chippy and the BBC employee eventually results in a couple of police officers coming to arrest our heros but in the scuffle the barge breaks free from its moorings and the duo escape. Their plan is now to sail their barge to freedom in France.

Episode 3 & 4:
The boys are figuring out how barges and canals work trying to plot a route to France and evade the law. They meet the good normal working class folk of Britain along the way many of whom attempt to help them or disguise the barge to escape capture. They eventually make their way further south towards the English Channel

Episode 5:
The boys are now close to entering the English Channel but the police are hot on their tail. The barge is also facing mechanical issues and there is a race against time to get the barge fixed and into the Channel. A humorous chase entails involving Dave and Chippy, the police and local news before Gary Linekar appears and causes a disturbance with the police that entails The Onion's escape. We end the episode with our two heroes toasting their success but in the background we see the skies darkening and a storm brewing.

Episode 6:
In our final episode the boys are battling the storm trying to reach France. Emotions are high, Dave and Chippy argue as Chippy wants to turn back to safety but Dave wants to continue into the storm. As the storm and the argument reaches a crescendo Dave breaks and confesses to Chippy how unhappy he is and how the adventure they've been on was ultimately a futile attempt to escape his depression and unfulfilling life. Dave and Chippy make up and they make the decision to return to Britain. The episode ends with the two finally making it back to shore where they are bundled into the back of a police van. Fade to black.

The theme song for the sitcom is Reverends Revenge from the Housemartins debut album London 0 Hull 4.

There are a couple of Housemartin songs that I knew (Caravan of Love and Happy Hour) and one of the Beautiful South albums was playing heavily by my mum growing up so this album was a constant surprise and delight on the first few plays. Happy Hour is an absolute banger and there are no real low points on the album but the more you Think For A Minute the more you realise there is more depth to the songs than you realise. Being self aware the band even reference it in We're Not Deep but it's at this point the super sincerity of the album begins to irritate.

Lean on Me is a distant cousin to Stand Be Me and is fine BUT carries so much sincerity but so little weight that it feels like karaoke. Paul Heaton has a nice voice but just doesn't have the raw gutter to make this work. Similar things are happening in I'll Be Your Shelter (Just Like A Shelter) but it feels even more like a pastiche. When Heaton starts directing the band and tells them to let it cook I just can't believe this is serious BUT IT REALLY IS. Then this gospel section culminates in the acapella People Get Ready I just cannot move past that The Housemartins are conflating the class struggles they describe with the American Civil Rights movement. For me it's a crass comparison which doesn't work. They then repeat the People Get Ready trick with He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother and the album almost collapses under the weight of its own sincerity BUT it doesn't.

The reason I can still appreciate the album is because the tunes are so poppy, uplifting and nice BUT it then fails to live up to the standard it sets in Flag Day. This should not be a nice album. It should be angry and challenging but it just isn't. It lets you off! You can sing Happy Hour with your mates and enjoy the drink without realising it's a song about hating the people you're drinking with. The album IS a jumble sale when it should be semi feral living in a forest setting fire to rich peoples horses. At the very least it should have a bit more self awareness.

Still it remains a 7 and a super easy album to have on and put a smile on your face. The only time it made me close to any other emotion is the Gospel of Marx section but for all the wrong reasons. The revolution will be televised on the BBC red button and presented by Jo Whiley and Nihal Arthanayake.
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TLDR ;)
 
journolud said:
Does feel slightly sacrilegious but while listening and enjoying the thought popped into my head that it was a great tune that he had and why wouldn’t he make the most of it
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No guitar solos, no Hammond fills, no middle-8s. Just a medium-paced jangle that runs round and round the track like an average Steve Ovett.

Might be slightly harsh because I enjoyed “Happy Hour” and I’m sure Paul Heaton is a nice bloke but this has less edges than a marble.

I mean, I don’t hate it, but it just kind of washes over you without pulling you in.
 
London 0 Hull 4 – The Housemartins

“Happy Hour” is a good listen. I never realised it was a miserable song but that’s obvious from the second line now. It combines its complaints with a jolly, bouncy vibe that sets the tone for the rest of the album. On its own, it’s good but a lot of the album just feels like a cut and paste of this song. It’s a lot of medium-paced jangly stuff that you can get quickly bored of.

There are little moments early on in the album that worked well – “Flag Day” is a nice change of pace that carries its message better than most of the other songs, and the backing vocals on “Anxious” are great, the song having a nice bit of energy about it.

Elsewhere the main riff for “Freedom” sounds suspiciously like “Everybody Needs Somebody” from The Blues Brothers.

London 0 Hull 4 is the sound of a band singing and playing their instruments with no gimmicks, so I can respect that, but for me it’s too flippant. I miss the serious commitment to making the actual music stand out from the crowd and it probably suffers in comparison to the Richard Thompson album we listened to last week that had this in abundance. 6/10.
 
RobMCFC said:
London 0 Hull 4 – The Housemartins

“Happy Hour” is a good listen. I never realised it was a miserable song but that’s obvious from the second line now. It combines its complaints with a jolly, bouncy vibe that sets the tone for the rest of the album. On its own, it’s good but a lot of the album just feels like a cut and paste of this song. It’s a lot of medium-paced jangly stuff that you can get quickly bored of.

There are little moments early on in the album that worked well – “Flag Day” is a nice change of pace that carries its message better than most of the other songs, and the backing vocals on “Anxious” are great, the song having a nice bit of energy about it.

Elsewhere the main riff for “Freedom” sounds suspiciously like “Everybody Needs Somebody” from The Blues Brothers.

London 0 Hull 4 is the sound of a band singing and playing their instruments with no gimmicks, so I can respect that, but for me it’s too flippant. I miss the serious commitment to making the actual music stand out from the crowd and it probably suffers in comparison to the Richard Thompson album we listened to last week that had this in abundance. 6/10.
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*puts RobMCFC on ignore……* lol
 
RobMCFC said:
London 0 Hull 4 is the sound of a band singing and playing their instruments with no gimmicks, so I can respect that, but for me it’s too flippant. I miss the serious commitment to making the actual music stand out from the crowd and it probably suffers in comparison to the Richard Thompson album we listened to last week that had this in abundance.
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Totally agree that this is no gimmicks, but would also point out the age of the people involved. The first real foray into putting their music out there. Whilst there is a degree of naivety to this with the musicianship, they are still learning their craft, whereas Mr T had many albums in which to do so.

And I can only be glad that I got the full on @mrbelfry treatment with that review...a single like didn't quite do it justice.
 
LGWIO said:
Totally agree that this is no gimmicks, but would also point out the age of the people involved. The first real foray into putting their music out there. Whilst there is a degree of naivety to this with the musicianship, they are still learning their craft, whereas Mr T had many albums in which to do so.

And I can only be glad that I got the full on @mrbelfry treatment with that review...a single like didn't quite do it justice.
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Interesting that Rob found it flippant whereas i found it overly sincere - hes maybe talking about the music whereas I'm talking about the lyrics and the gospel section (which I felt was a bit gimmicky along with the a capella stuff). I did enjoy reading a bit more about how they wrote some of these songs - the music for Happy Hour was written pretty quickly so that the guitar player could go buy an iced bun. I think they established a strong vibe with the stuff that sounds like Happy Hour but I hear enough variety within that limited spectrum to keep me interested. It reminded me a little bit of The Jam in certain moments but without Foxton's aggressive bass playing giving it a bit of bite.

My review is maybe a little obtuse but it makes sense. The album preaches revolution but the music is non-threatening like if the BBC covered revolution like it does the London Marathon or something. I tried to explain the feeling of that and how the music might be used because that's what sparked my thoughts. I get carried away but I do think carefully about the response the album is creating in me and try and write about that - but quickly so i don't do much editing and quality control.

I think I can explain and defend most of what I've written (it all makes sense to me) but it's a bit like having to explain a joke. Perhaps my RT review last week was a little superficial and I regret not approaching it more with the idea he's crafting stories rather than being autobiographical (but that was mainly with hindsight based on what everyone else was writing about it).
 
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LGWIO said:
Totally agree that this is no gimmicks, but would also point out the age of the people involved. The first real foray into putting their music out there. Whilst there is a degree of naivety to this with the musicianship, they are still learning their craft, whereas Mr T had many albums in which to do so.

And I can only be glad that I got the full on @mrbelfry treatment with that review...a single like didn't quite do it justice.
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Just to be clear, the "no gimmicks" was a compliment - i.e. the band are just playing music without inserting drum machines or record scratches or whatever. A lot of people like this kind of bouncy indie jangly stuff - e.g. Mad Eyed Screamer - but it's never a type of music that has appealed to me.

I think what people like about it, as you say a young band learning their craft and the instrumental naivety, is what puts me off. When I listen to a band, I like to hear all of that effort that goes into constructing the parts for the guitar, keyboards etc. It's a subject that I keep coming back to so it says more about me than the album under review.
 
RobMCFC said:
Just to be clear, the "no gimmicks" was a compliment - i.e. the band are just playing music without inserting drum machines or record scratches or whatever. A lot of people like this kind of bouncy indie jangly stuff - e.g. Mad Eyed Screamer - but it's never a type of music that has appealed to me.

I think what people like about it, as you say a young band learning their craft and the instrumental naivety, is what puts me off. When I listen to a band, I like to hear all of that effort that goes into constructing the parts for the guitar, keyboards etc. It's a subject that I keep coming back to so it says more about me than the album under review.
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I suspect you won’t be over enamoured with the slightly shambolic nature of my next pick
 
Despite the slightly one paced nature of most of this album I like it enough to have progressed to their follow up plus the first from the Beautiful South. There’s a definite progression. Some of the Beautiful South songs you can’t help but be familiar with but plenty of other gems on the album.

Rob might not agree but they do strike me as having the same gift for a hook and melody as Crowded House.

A few more listens before coming to a score here but it won’t be a chore
 
mrbelfry said:
My review is maybe a little obtuse but it makes sense. The album preaches revolution but the music is non-threatening like if the BBC covered revolution like it does the London Marathon or something. I tried to explain the feeling of that and how the music might be used because that's what sparked my thoughts. I get carried away but I do think carefully about the response the album is creating in me and try and write about that - but quickly so i don't do much editing and quality control.

I think I can explain and defend most of what I've written (it all makes sense to me) but it's a bit like having to explain a joke. Perhaps my RT review last week was a little superficial and I regret not approaching it more with the idea he's crafting stories rather than being autobiographical (but that was mainly with hindsight based on what everyone else was writing about it).
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Some of us need the joke explained or we'd be watching the seagulls overhead and the anticipated dangers of such for too long.

With all that said, I've got some YT listening to do this weekend, still with a (mostly) blank canvas. Well, at least I think it is still blank despite the seagulls prior.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
Some of us need the joke explained or we'd be watching the seagulls overhead and the anticipated dangers of such for too long.

With all that said, I've got some YT listening to do this weekend, still with a (mostly) blank canvas. Well, at least I think it is still blank despite the seagulls prior.
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The main joke is the name of the barge but it's not a very good one
 
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