More good albums from 2024....
12. Hamish Hawk - A Firmer Hand
I know I'm unduly harsh on Hamish Hawk, all because I want him to be the new Morrissey, to replace the old no-longer-fit-for-purpose Morrissey.
Wait, hear me out! Don't just stop reading because I used the M-word!
There are some clear comparisons to be made between Hamish and The Artist Formerly Known As My Second Favourite Singer In The World. Vocally, they share many of the same traits. Musically, they plough similar furrows. And lyrically... well, they both know their way around a metaphor, are skilful in the use of puns, and wear their hearts openly on their sleeves.
For some reason though, much as I admire Hamish's songwriting chops, I can't quite embrace them in the same way I once did The Unmentionable One. His songs don't touch a nerve, and I often miss their overall meaning. While I enjoy individual lines, I'm often left scratching my head as to what he's saying en masse. But I feel like I ought to, and this leaves me frustrated.
Despite all that, his latest album is very good. There's clearly some kind of homoerotic kink going on this time round, but that's about as much as I can decipher.
You with all the modesty of Big Tech in boom
I tire of you honestly when you swan around a room
How I used to like to watch you fixing me a drink
'Til manhandling the crystalware, became your kink
You vetoed everyone of my miserabilist movies
You bored my friends from out of town with the virtues of shoegaze
You've all the upright strength of an infant's neck
And yet, and yet, and yet, and yet...
Will you record the sound I make when I die?
What the devil will it take for you to look me in the eye?
Am I your number one? Or just some other guy?
If I axed you for real, would you wise up and die?
11. Amy Rigby - Hang In There With Me
Amy Rigby moved to the UK this year, which should make it much more easy to stalk her. (Don't tell Eric.)
Another artist who can do no wrong in my ears, Amy brings her customary cynical wit to another superior collection of songs involving Bob Dylan, bad haircuts, and burying your husband under the patio. Plus there's a fair bit about growing old too...
Try your whole life to make something that matters
Chords chime, words rhyme, paint spatters
Get out the camera, take a shot you wanna capture
Madness, sadness, sunsets, rapture
Doors won't always open
That don't stop you hoping
Someday you can grab it
Like a cowgirl cattle roping
Selling makes you crazy
Giving up is lazy
Tough days got to play it
Like De Niro and Scorsese
First you get hurt
Then you get smart
We all wind up in the dirt
They say that living is an art
Hear the sound of laughter
From the Hereafter
Is it better to burn out or fall apart?
10. The Bug Club - On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System
My only complaint about the latest album by The Bug Club is that if I want to purchase the CD (which I do) from Bandcamp, it has to be shipped from America, and they appear to want TWENTY-FIVE QUID postage & packing.
The Bug Club are from Wales. Why can't I get a copy from the UK?
This kind of niggle is actually the sort of thing The Bug Club could write a song about. I'm looking forward to their next album, which will hopefully feature a song called Twenty Five Quid, with a chorus that goes...
Twenty-five quid
Twenty-five quid
Twenty-five quid
Twenty-five quid
Robbing bastards
(But not The Bug Club themselves, who I'm sure are very nice people.)
On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System tackles many more big issues of our time, such as where to find Quality Pints in your town, what happens if you watch too many War Movies, and the undeniable fact that Everybody Thinks They Look A Bit Like James Bond...
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