English isn’t his first language, right? The instrumentals work best. It’s a real curiosity of an album. The intention was never to make an outstanding record. Experimentation was heavy on the agenda. As ever with these types of projects, some hit the spot, others fall very wide of the mark. Hit and miss, pick and mix. Enjoyable, but not a must listen.
⭐ ⭐
A fourth drop from the new Sleaford fucking Mods album, The Demise of Planet X. Here we have No Touch, a killer collab with Sue Tompkins from Life Without Buildings. I’d forgotten all about the early 2000 Scottish indie band, tbh. Sleaford fucking Mods always choose the best artists to work with. There’s almost a pop feel to No Touch with Tompkins adding a little cheer to the usual rantings. The video was filmed in Dartford, apparently. It could be any town outside the M25. The boarded up shops are a dead giveaway. I’m creaming it ahead of the album in the new year.
Whinny.
⭐
There’s an awful lot going on here: you can’t ignore Lydon’s cry for help - but even an instrumental version of this album would rate highly. Levene’s guitar is like a dental drill; Wobble’s bass sends you dizzy. Even the drums sound unlike what you would expect. There’s something of a rock god feel to them, but somehow they still slot into the jigsaw. It’s a fucked up picture, for sure. But that’s how I like my music.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I had to give this a second listen. I admit to allowing it to wash over me first time round - which is quite an achievement for a Pogues album. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood. And you need to be in the mood for a Pogues album. This isn’t easy listening. There’s much more depth than I was expecting. The Eastern influences add more light to the simple piss up Pogues' persona. I had to skip THAT song, even in deep December. Sure, it’s magical. But you can only take so much of it, especially so at this time of the year.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I know Alice Cooper is cool, and I’m supposed to like Alice Cooper. But it’s still US rock shite. I haven’t spent the best part of four decades forming my finely tuned musical prejudices to give into this posturing.
⭐ ⭐
Only Nick Cave could get away with an album all about murdering women - although I doubt if he would walk away unscathed in 2025. The Kylie duet gets all the headlines. But it’s the PJ Harvey collab that works best for me. Polly brings out the best baritone in Smiling Nick.
⭐ ⭐
I wanted to really like this. I think it’s the idea of really liking it, than actually hearing anything of interest. In the end it was all a load of hippy nonsense, as expected. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) was a rare highlight.
⭐ ⭐
There’s some decent pop songs in here. But there’s an awful lot of noise. What’s with all the power chords and posturing? Green Day work best when they’re Green Day: back to basics pop punk. No one wants to hear a punk rock opera. I didn’t make it to the end. No shit. Like punk never happened.
⭐ ⭐
Not a bad album, but the NME naming it as one of the Top 500 albums of all time tells you more about NME, than the music itself. And so here we have a very dreamy album. It doesn’t inspire - it sends you to sleep. Which may - or may not - have been the point. Pleasant enough, but hardly a rallying call.
⭐ ⭐
