ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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The Holloways
NO SMOKE, NO MIRRORS MADFISH 5.10.09 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
Busting out like a ray of sunshine, AAA opens the album with Alfie’s friendly vocals, a catch of realness to his voice, as Bryn & co work up a pop-storm behind. A follow up to So This Is Great Britain, the debut, this treads a similar path. With chiming guitar not a million miles from an O’Neill line in seventies punksters, The Undertones, and down to earth lyrics, this is eminently approachable. A band that always seem to be debuting a clutch of new songs with every tour, material spills out of them, a selection ending up here. Such prolificacy allows selection and this batch is a good ‘un. Full of the normal grumbling and larking and celebration, this is business as usual, despite the drastic changes to the band. Since last seen, Rob Skipper (fiddle) has gone his way, along with bass and drums, leaving only Alfie and Bryn to build a new crew. Whatever the tale behind the changes, this is the same band in the way that Squeeze were always the same, so long as Difford and Tillbrook were present.A grumble about losing the remote control and blaming it on anyone and everyone is followed by a go at rude chavs on the bus – it’s a bit like Madness making an appeal for public decency. The tunes are endlessly bouncy and feelgood, however annoyed Alfie might be about the behaviour of his compatriots (last album saw him taking the piss out of teenage mums). Other songs like Jukebox Sunshine are full of light and harmony and goodwill. This is a band that feels like fun and a good laugh. Their backstage demeanour is relaxed and easygoing, a curiosity about the world replacing the cynicism of life on the road and a million interviews. Sinners n Winners sees a Holloways take on street life – a long way from the grime of the streets rock normally purveys – this sees mums fetching dinners to the school gate and tips on life. Cool Down is another feel-good bouncer, despite being a plea to a mugger to chill and not hurt him. I’m not sure advice like “you can’t steal a better quality of life” would really work but there y’go – maybe you can achieve more with a sunny disposition. Alcohol is a wee bit too moralising. Little Johnny Went To Parliament is a slice of fantasy life, illustrating the clarity of vision of youth while painting the sort of Ealing Comedy picture that madness and Ian Dury used to specialise in. As shiny, summery and quintessentially English as their debut, this will stand tall in the albums released this year. www.the-holloways.co.uk |
