album launch – Ferocious Blog

The Highs and Lows of Being Normal..

I never cease to be mesmerised by Warren Ireland.

Given that I have the privilege of spending a few hours rehearsing with him each week that might sound surprising. Despite having been privy to some of his writing process with Darwin’s Rejects, how he can conceive of, and perform, such a myriad of musical layers as one person is – frankly – mind-blowing. Even to do it in a studio, then consider the fact he can do it live with the pressure of an onlooking crowd. It’s just wow.

Here’s me generally feeling very pleased with myself for being able to lay down some very simplistic bass on our tracks, haha!

Normally an 80-odd mile round trip to the Black Market Venue in Warsop would feel like a bit of a bind on a Sunday evening but we weren’t going to miss an opportunity to see him showcase the release of his latest album, The Highs and Lows of Being Normal. Regrettably weekend faffing around meant we missed the support acts, which was sad but also necessary as we’d had a busy Saturday already. The curtains were across the room and side stage being utilised for an intimate crowd eagerly anticipating the main act.

If you get hold of a CD from Warren of the album (which you should do), then you’re treated to a book-ends and intermingled skit tracks that aren’t present on the online streaming sites – plus you can’t get it beautifully signed and dedicated on Spotify or Apple Music. So buy a CD even if like me you’ve got no means of playing them probably beyond a computer somewhere, then stream it as well! I’m not going to describe these, you’ll have to get a copy and find them out for yourself!

Paddy Said opens, such a powerful track built around an irresistibly catchy little guitar riff – but layered with chords, beatbox and of course the vocals it comes to life. Lyrically it charts sage bedside advice presumably from Paddy about acceptance and how straightforward it really ought to be to make the world a nicer and friendlier place with a bit more tolerance. Layers of backing vocals backdrop a lovely intricate instrumental picked on guitar, before into another soaring round of choruses then an outro. A strong start.

Happy in my Skin carries on the bouncy start – a long initial opening verse which, if you take a moment to think about it, as well as remembering the myriad of instrumental layers, there’s a ridiculous amount of lyrical content to remember too. More use of reverb and backing vocals on choruses than we’ve typically seen before from Warren works really well, the lyrics are an introspective examination of how we’re all flawed and have perhaps regrettable elements of our past – but ultimately we can only work from now to be the best version of ourselves!

Something So Right starts with spooky backing vocals before the gentler instrumentation kicks in, we’re onto a more chilled out section you can get lost in the lovely little picked guitar bits over a ponderous rhythm – whilst the charming lyrics are a heartfelt tribute to the challenges of developing a relationship – but ultimately the refrain of ‘I don’t want to let you walk away’ shows the underlying desire to make things work. It’s a mostly lovely sentimental track.

Make It Out takes us down a different path – acoustic guitar tricks you with gentle melodies before a full on drum and bass assault of beatbox is unleashed. You might question if he can deliver that live – he can! The impassioned singing and guitar is actually not as pacey as the beats would suggest. Backing vocal melodies are brought in with some singalongable ‘la la’s’ – who knew drum and bass with a singalong bit could be a thing? The picked guitar solo in the bridge sounds almost Spanish guitary. There’s such a lot going on here, but despite what sounds like a description of disparate things that don’t belong together blend into a beautiful absorbing creation. Writing duties here credited also to Jordan Phatboy White.

Heroes pulls us back to acoustic driven chords before gentler percussion and picking is overlaid before semi-rapped-semi-sung lyrics kick in. The over-riding feel is lighthearted but underpinned with the troubled state of the world, and a need for some kind of hero to save the day. We get more lovely finger picking for the bridge, and of course the chorus of ‘Superman or Iron Man‘ gives a nice nod to the fairly frequent appearance of Warren’s Superman dressing gown on stage!

Home is a punchy lament to something I’m sure we can all relate to at times, that overwhelming desire to go home whether it be from a workplace or another place. It’s an anthem for the disaffected, which I’m sure most of us are at least some of the time – but I can imagine when you’re a full on creative the daily grind of a typical workplace must be absolutely intolerable. This is a multi-layered foot-stomper, a steady beat and chord pattern overlaid by more intricate instrumentation and lyrics. Highly relatable but by creating something you can have a dance to it’s made a positive out of frustration.

Woke Snowflake is gentle musically with some vitriol in the lyrics, which I like. Woke is a really interesting slur, my understanding of the term is somebody with empathy for others. That sounds like a virtue not an insult to me! Backing vocals start us off, then guitars and beats before the lyrics, there’s some clever wordplay in here which appeals to me – playing back the kind of vitriolic bile you see increasingly on platforms like Twitter under the auspices of Elon Musk, it’s a creative way of addressing something that is really quite damaging.

Scrolling By is ludicrously catchy – strums back way for beats, strums and picking before the lyrics kick in. It’s a pandemic that affects all of us in the Smart Phone era – I’m definitely guilty of it, questioning the need for the latest and greatest phone – and of course, how much time we spend staring glazed face at banal crap whilst real life passes you by. This is – even by Warren’s standards – an absolute word-fest, he gives himself a nice break before the final chorus kicks in, again another that gives you an irresistible urge to tap your foot at the very least whilst it’s playing.

Letter to Heaven is a change in mood and pace, beautiful acoustic guitar work gives a simple backdrop for really heartfelt vocals. Backing vocals on the chorus heighten the emotion, there’s almost a full cycle of grief here – loss, pain, fondness and gratitude for having known them. It’s so powerful in its relative simplicity, stripped back raw and brave and allowing the narrative to take centre-stage. It was mesmerising to hear this live at the weekend too, although perhaps not one he’ll include often in shorter festival sets. Truly beautiful.

Dear Me arrives just as you’re recovering your sensibilities and threatens to tip you over the emotional edge again. Again, acoustic guitar provides the platform, this time the vocals are more impassioned, a combination of singing and rapping, interspersed with some finger-picking instrumentals. It’s Warren having a harsh word with himself, a reflection of self-worth (or lack thereof at times), reflecting on achievements he’s reached and to remember he’s his own worst critic. The vocal delivery brings Scroobius Pip to mind for me, which is a high compliment as I absolutely adore his lyrical writing and delivery. As the song builds so do the power of the vocals. It’s lovely. I hope he listens to himself!

Man Among the Damned is a beautiful arrangement with Martin Borrett providing piano along with Warren’s guitar, again we have powerful and less pacey vocals. More self-reflection, the struggle for a sense of purposes or to have a plan – but there’s metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel as the narrative builds (or maybe light through the clouds?). Backing vocals lift the choruses and I suppose it’s a neat reminder that somebody as objectively full of talent as Warren could be wracked with insecurity, it’s a relief to hear some kind of progression.

We end with a reprise of Paddy Said, but slowed and with accompaniment both from Martin Borrett on piano and also Jared Harding with some rousing trumpet as the track ends. This is slowed down and contemplative, it’s such a perfect way to close out the album – almost as it began, at least in subject if not in tone – that catchy riff slowed down becomes a beautiful melody and you’re eased back either to the beginning or the end. It’s a clever way to close out it leaves you feeling relaxed but uplifted after quite the rollercoaster of pace and sentiment.

Highs and Lows you might say, but exceptional – not mere normal.

The Highs and Lows of Being Normal is available on all the usual streaming platforms, and I strongly urge you to get yourself to one of Warren‘s gigs or contact him for a CD too.

Freeborn Al / 19th November 2024 / Gigs, Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos

Of no particular consequence..

A couple of weeks ago the unflappably humble Henshaw (and I wouldn’t want that to change, to be fair) released Of No Particular Consequence into the wild, many of us having excitably pre-ordered it. Mine arrived complete with a lovely little handwritten card, which is a nice personal touch. His post-launch post included a comment as self-depreciating as “That’s all then, it’s old news, it will never chart, it will never sell a million copies..” – we’re almost in slap-upside the head territory, before he ends the sentence with “… it doesn’t matter, I’m fucking proud of it.”

And so you should be, buddy. I’m proud of you.

Henshaw’s music is beautifully melancholic at times, and that massively appeals to me – the latest band sound has evolved into something that wouldn’t sound out of place in the 90’s (and that definitely appeals to me!), to my ear at least there’s a mash-up of indie/Britpop type sounds with grunge elements and a bit of shoe-gazing introspection thrown in, and somehow remaining cohesive. It ticks a lot of my boxes – but that’s quite a reductive description for what is a really varied collection of thirteen songs.

*I just wanted an excuse to use the ‘I wasn’t wearing eyeliner!’ picture 🙂*

It’s an almost jarring start with The Adventurer, starting with train sounds, making you sit up and take notice before it settles into a steady beat and bass, I don’t know what the musical term for the bit where he runs down some notes both vocally and instrumentally is – but I like it! The mixing and mastering is polished, I’d expect nothing less from Tom Carter. Samples introduce a number of the songs, including Partially Martyred, a heavy verse kicking into a much lighter chorus. The sample preceding the song here featuring a Scottish gentleman reading some poetry and seeking affirmation from Paul. There’s some John Hare horn bits in here too!

Like Plastic in a Flame changes the pace down, and is probably my favourite track – not just because the title idly plays into my fantasies of what to do with Russ’ kazoos – it’s got a dancy beat and dreamy guitars, the solo provided by George Marriott of Pet Needs. It’s a melodic dirge but dirge in a good way, I listen to it and get lost in it – then we get to the a more impassioned bit, that elevates it into something epic. I proper love this song – I don’t even know what it is, prog-indie-dancy-dirgey goodness. That’s what it is. I think.

Like Plastic in a Flame – simply sublime (possibly with a slightly differing line-up)

Fake Masquerades continues the pace built up as the previous track built up to, lyrically clever compelling the listener to let go of the past and appreciate the present. Wise words, with countless layers of delicious instrumentation. Let the Sun Shine In performed by The Wilkinson Trio is definitely a change of pace and tone – and on reviewing the sleeve notes, it’s a charming recording from the 1950s featuring his Mum, Aunty and Grandad – sentimental bugger, it provides a lovely interlude though.

All the Other Times is ballad-like – Paul’s vocals are gentle, but backed up by an almost orchestral level of emotional instrumentation I think we’re straying into power-ballad territory, it’s really moving though – lyrics evoking a final attempt. This would be a lighters out sway-along if ever there was one and if we’d not all switched to vapes! With Love and a Handshake does the gentle-into-heavy trick again – drenched with Van Gogh references, who I’m well aware Paul absolutely adores so it’s lovely to pay tribute to that in song.

Just going off the title I was worried that The Ballad of Super Ted might be an ode to possibly one of the most irritating cartoon characters going – quite the opposite. I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Ted but what we have here is a charming tribute to a lost friend, reflecting on happy memories it’s at once sad and celebratory. I feel a bit insensitive making the cartoon observations but it was a legitimate worry from a position of ignorance – what we actually have is lovely! And ne’er a mention of the hateful Spotty. Right. Sensible head back on.

*A triumphant album launch at Ey Up Mi Duck* *(photo credit: J. Russell, Lyric Lounge Review)*

This War is frankly anthemic – full of affirmation and support, comradeship and solidarity. I absolutely adore this song, it’s amazing live too when the crowd get involved in the ‘keep your shoulders high..’ part. Wonderfully empowering and uplifting. For Miriam is an abrupt change of pace and sentiment commemorating a three year old girl murdered by the Nazis. The tiny stone being stepped on referred to is a Stolperstein, a cube embedded in the ground bearing the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. A literal translation would be stumbling block. It’s a harrowing song, but strangely beautiful for it.

Let Fireworks Light the Sky brings us back from the doldrums, building gently from guitar into a wall of sound crescendo after the first couple of acoustic verses. The choice to use the Friday night at Ey Up Mi Duck seems spectacularly apt as within a couple of hours of Henshaw’s set concluding nature saw fit to light up the sky with her own fireworks as Aurora Borealis amazed us across the campsite. No Longer Proud is a more overt than usual lament to the state of the nation, featuring beautiful fiddle melodies courtesy of Hannah McLeod of Leylines fame and then a rap from Samantics. It’s not just a moan though, there’s a crumb of hope offered too!

*Easter egg – dodgy backing singer alert!*

Which brings us to the final track, Save Me, Hate Me. It starts with organ tones and plaintive vocals – strings and light percussion join a third in, building intensity but not pace – finally a thumping beat kicking in just beyond half way, with more and more layers of intricacy building the song up to be the epic finale this album needs, dropping you back to stripped back vocals abruptly to finish. It’s quite the rollercoaster just in one track which is a fitting end of an album that has the same effect.

I can see why Paul is proud – this is clearly a labour of love, there’s undoubted subtle and personal meanings I’ve not necessarily picked up on in here, and from his own comments in the sleeve notes his bandmates and collaborators have clearly taken his creations and then augmented them with their own creativity and vision to render something truly epic. Packaged up beautifully with artwork by the wonderfully talented Sally Harrison it’s really a triumph. I would urge you most strongly to get hold of it, it deserves a much wider audience than Paul seems to think it will achieve!

Buy Of No Particular Consequence on Bandcamp now 🙂

Freeborn Al / 22nd May 2024 / Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos

Five Compass Lighthouse

I’ve been playing Paul Henshaw and the Scientific Simpleton‘s new album, Five Compass Lighthouse, for a few weeks now ever since the album launch night at Katy Fitzgerald’s.

It kicks off, much like the gig did, with spoken-word poetry Where I Was set to a soundscape – words that are later referenced in the lyrics of the songs that follow, and as the percussion kicks in launches straight into the punchy chords of Heads, Hearts and Voices.

This brought a couple of things to mind, both quite randomly, the ‘daaah daaah daaah daaah’ chord progression reminds me of Levellers’ Broken Circles (things reminding me of Levellers is usually a good thing, this is no exception!), but the lyrics oddly brought to mind the scene in Dirty Dancing where there holiday camp owner leads the singing of a song that features ‘join hands and hearts and voices’ – which probably betrays how many times I endured that particular film beloved of my first girlfriend more than anything!

It’s a great way to launch into a gig, and indeed, an album!

Throwing Lines is a bit gentler starting with acoustic guitar before the electric kicks in with decisive up-strums (I’m sure there’s a technical term for this). The tone for this one is much lighter and optimistic – evoking the idea that sometimes you just can’t control what’s going around you so might as well just go with the flow as best you can.

Waves is a bouncy cheery sounding song too, acoustic strums accompany the tongue-twisting vocals with some bouzouki accompaniment before the band kicks in. From reading Paul’s notes it’s actually about him selling his childhood home and moving away, this track gives the album its title too (which you can research yourself 🙂 ) – so it’s actually documenting a rather traumatic experience, but ultimately with a positive outcome. The song feels optimistic to me anyway!

The Last Day Before Bedlam has a much grungier feel which I like a lot – an empassioned chorus rife with self-criticism, it’s really energetic and really rather dark. But that gets betrayed a bit by how much fun it looks to play live (especially Matt, ha!). It kinda works on both levels really – it gets those feelings out there, and in a way that’s clearly fun to perform. This might be my favourite.

I’m Still Empty brings the intensity down with gentle acoustic guitar and more soulful lyrics. Quite philosophical lyrics, and eventually there’s layers of sound introduced from the rest of the band – and a great singalong opportunity with some ‘Whoa oh oh ohs’ which was enthusiastically taken up by the crowd at Katy’s.

The Road to Krumlov is actually really charming – a lament to the loneliness of touring, in this case in the Czech Republic. This song probably delivers the most heartbreaking lyric I’ve heard in ages: “… so I type in my postcode to the Sat Nav to kill a few moments, and I’m saddened to see that I’m more than a full day away.” You can just imagine some poor fella sat in a car park waiting until he can load his gear in missing a familiar face or two.

Glasgow starts with recorded background noises (from Glasgow, Paul’s blog informs me) before the song kicks in. It’s a cheery tribute to a trip to – wait for it – Glasgow! It’s made me want to visit now, as much like Paul my only visit here before has been fleeting – for a Ferocious Dog gig perhaps unsurprisingly – it was fun enough, but hotel, pub, gig, hotel, home is probably not the best way to showcase what a city might have to offer!

Twenty One Trains starts with moody acoustic guitar before the band joins in then the lyrics kick in. Apparently there are actually 21 trains featured in the recording too, Paul asks if ‘you get what I’m trying to say’ – I must admit I don’t, it’s not a happy song – the instrumentation reminds me almost of Joy Division which probably explains why it sounds unhappy if that’s what I associate it with. The lyrics are really personal and deal with insomnia, hopelessness and even potential suicidal thoughts. It’s really rather moving.

Wren is another dark moody track. Bird-related songs will always pique my interest and the throbbing bass and incidental guitar stabs only heighten the tension. It’s actually documenting something as routine as trying to save a wren that had been caught by a cat and failing to revive it. It sounds trivial – it’s the sort of thing that would absolutely haunt me for ages, so I find it satisfying that it’s inspired this epic grungy number running at almost six minutes.

Promised Lullaby is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a song Paul promised to write. It’s beautifully gentle, which a lullaby should be really. Gentle layers of accompaniment to the acoustic guitar and vocals are perfect without distracting – the tone is of reassurance and nurturing – its placement on the album after the trauma of the garden bird massacre is perfect.

fAR REACHING Rage is a rare foray into politics – actually, in kinda isn’t, it’s really a fairly self-evident appraisal of one particular figure who arguably isn’t actually a politician anyway, just a self-serving rabble rouser (okay, so maybe that is a definition of politician). The clue is in the capitalisation of the track – this is actually, subject aside, a really fun song, with another corker of a lyrical masterpiece in the chorus “The country is a better place with the absence of your face, I hope they blast you into space, why don’t you go away?” – all set to a chunky rock soundtrack.

Bible Chords issues a challenge of “so you think you understand this song” – in truth, no, sorry Paul! It feels like it’s quite a personal rant – a bit of a reckoning, a rise from a slumber of over-familiarity and realising there’s a need to chart a new course. I think we’ve all been in that place at one time or another – self-imposed isolation, and eventual realisation there’s an alternative to that. This features lots of recordings of people Paul asked to contribute some ‘Whoas’ – Facebook’s algorithms clearly denied me the opportunity to join in. Bastards!

Nothing O’Clock starts with sea noises, and who I suspect might be Frank the dog yapping happily around. Gentle acoustic guitar and vocals start to paint a picture of the scene by the seaside, lilting into philosophical musings – the guitar picked melodies are lovely. There’s almost Nick Parkeresque observational lyrics of people-watching. Just before half way percussion gently joins the party, then a little while later the picking gives way to strumming as the percussion gets heavier and finally with a cymbal crash the tumultuous arrival of the rest of the band for a frankly triumphant finale.

Except it’s not quite a finale – the track ends with more sea noises, with the return of the guitar picking and a final spoken word piece, weaving together lyrics from the songs we’ve just heard. It’s affirmative and positive – bookending what does feel like quite a journey, whilst maybe not entirely autobiographical or chronological – there’s a sense that this album has developed over a seismic period of Paul’s life and has in that sense provided a documentary of kinds of that journey. And mercifully it feels like a journey that’s heading in the right direction.

A fantastic and brave achievement – amazing songwriting, and awesome work from the other Simpletons in giving them the depth and intricacies they need – which translate brilliantly to a live setting too. It’s been out more than a month now so hopefully you have it already, if you don’t, then you should remedy that omission posthaste.

Freeborn Al / 8th December 2019 / Music, Other Bands, Photos, Videos

The gig that launched a brace of albums..

The Black Market Venue was resplendent with candlelit tables and black table cloths, the curtains were pulled across (initially at least!) to make what is a cavernous space feel more intimate, red and black balloons bedecked the place (including some HUUUUUGE ones by the stage!). The room was filled with possibly a larger crowd than anticipated – eagerly ready to support the album launch for not just Star Botherers, but Strange Currencies too – and if that wasn’t enough, there was a set by Black Thorn to get the night underway!

Jamie had been kind enough to give us a lift up to the venue – so I could have a cheeky pint of Illicit or two for a change – and not have to gamble a trip in my increasingly erratic car (but that’s another story!). By the time we were herded into the back room by Brad there was a sizeable gathering in the front bar, but unbeknown to us there was quite the crowd already ensconsed in the back room – tables had filled up, we installed ourselves by the bar, by the time Kev, Julie and the kids arrived the curtains had to go back to make room for everyone.

I’m really glad about that – it’s great to see so many people out to support local independent and unsigned artists. As well as an album launch it was a showcase for The Black Market Venue’s recording facilities – where, of course, Happy Angry was recorded, and is headed up by Joel. Venue, bar, brewery and now recording studio – certainly a diverse establishment! As we got ourselves settled in Black Thorn were getting themselves soundchecked – and soon enough were underway.

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Freeborn Al / 9th November 2017 / Hell Hounds, Music, Other Bands, Photos

A song for everyone..

I feel a bit vindicated in taking a while to get this review out the blocks because I’ve waited for ages for Shanks’ Pony to get some of their songs recorded! I can’t remember exactly when I first saw them play, but I know it wasn’t long after I’d first got into Ferocious Dog, I have a vague memory of my first sight of a cajón in use at The Black Market Venue in the murky past – and ever since then I like many of you have had to make do with getting to see them live and not be able to listen in the comfort of our own homes.

But no longer! We knew an album was in progress and then suddenly a Facebook post announced we could order – so that’s what I did and greedily eyed the letterbox at home until it arrived – clad in a delightfully designed cover (courtesy of Kezia Parsons) depicting the band in a woodland scene. I eagerly grabbed the CD out of the case and got it ripped onto a device I could play loudly – whilst the technical stuff was happening I cast an eye down the track list – eight songs all familiar titles (and will help with me trying to translate their impossible set lists in future, haha!).

Top of the World is up first, kicking in with Bob’s distinctive drumming intro then layered in some staccato guitar strums from Paul and then the fiddle instrumental builds up for the vocals, I’m sure I remember this song documents an event at Harefield Hall (I know Dean has said more than once during a live airing that he was there!). You don’t really have to be familiar with the precise events chronicled though – lots of name-checking of now familiar artists – plus Edward Tudor-Pole in there too..

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Freeborn Al / 17th October 2017 / Music, Other Bands, Photos