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New Album Reviews New from Americana-UK
Vinny Peculiar & the Blue Poppies of Ambrosia "Sometimes I feel like a King" (Shadrack & Duxbury, 2009)
New Review Net Rhythms Aug 2009 Over the past decade Alan Wilkes has released some seven albums under his musical alter ego, each one better than the last, each one veined with wry wit, incisive observations, touching humanite, and a 60s English cultural sensibility (his label's named from kitchen sink escapism drama Billy Liar), summoning comparisons to Ray Davies, Babybird, Cocker, Morrissey and even the Eels. Now comes album number eight and, taking its title from a line in Charles Bukowski's Fire Station and recorded with his new band, arguably the best yet, making it even more incomprehensible that he still remains a little known name beyond cult circles. The title track opens the album in splendid form, a piano ballad with hints of Neil Young and an almost hymnal chorus line as he sings of finding joy in and despite of the everyday mundanities of life. In a world of bigger budgets, it's a song that should fade out on a gospel choir, but Vinny still taps into the heart of its emotion. It's a world view nicely complemented by the album's sole cover, a terrific Lou Reed cum Bryan Ferry take on the Cowboy Junkies' Sun Comes Up It's Tuesday Morning with its celebration of listening to Coltrane and 'thinking about things that don't have to add to something". The Davies-like Welfare Statement turns its sad but sympathetic attention to the nine to five fog and 'lazy public sector workers' who moan, gossip and coast through life aspiring to 'a pension scheme and a caravan in New Brighton' while elsewhere there's To Hell With Fashion's raw Bowie-esque caustic savaging of the fashion/image business, the wry double standards Nurse Of The Year, Roxyish staccatto glam stomp Uniform's jab at conformity, and Success' choppy guitar (and again Bowie tinged) mocking scalpel through the fame game. The thematic polar opposite of the title track's take on banality, the languidly paced, whistling Inertia mirrors theme with form but if that marks the album's lowest emotional ebb then the country flavoured shuffle of Actions Speak Louder with its oohing backing vocals and Waterloo Sunset guitar figure veins melancholy with romanticism while, shuffling on brushed drums and cocktail lounge keyboards, Blind Man's Bluff is slightly more optimistic than the lyrics might have you believe. Most will interpret 'Peculiar' as odd, but it's worth noting that it also means 'special' or 'distinctive' and, as a noun, "exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary in whose territory it lies." "How do you know for sure, you've made the right choices?, listened to the right voices?", he sings on slow waltzing, gradually building play out piano ballad Women And Men. I think the answer is self-evident. Mike Davies August 2009 By: Dennis Cook So easy to warm to and full of steaming depths once you snuggle in, Vinny Peculiar & The Blue Poppies of Ambrosia's new long-player finds the U.K. pop craftsman in his best form yet, a gently swaying encapsulation of slightly left of Beatles songwriting realized with tight, snappy musicianship and good, clean production. If you sport a lil' sonic chub for Robyn Hitchcock, The dB's, Sensations, Billy Bragg, The Feelies or other high quality, post-Byrds fare then King is likely to sweep you up with a sure hand. The quirkier aspects of Vinny's earlier output are beveled appealingly here, so what shines through is the quality of his singing, playing and tunes. It's almost as if Peculiar relaxed a bit and decided to stop waving his arms with consciously provocative imagery and little tics that draw attention but perhaps don't last in the same way plain old good music presented well can. Sometimes I Feel Like A King is just a pleasure to listen to – no more or less complex than that. That he tips his hat at one of the most under-appreciated songwriting outfits in rock with a sincere cover of the Cowboy Junkies' "Sun Comes Up Its Tuesday Morning" only shows the company he wants to keep. From the jumpy crackly of "Uniform" and "Success" to the thoughtful meander of "Success" to the curled-lip snarl of "To Hell With Fashion," Vinny Peculiar has fully matured into an artist anyone smitten with great pop will adore. Mary at SoundsXP
Ah, Vinny Peculiar. I make it no secret that I adore this man's work and, like with most musicians who I admire, it is always scary listening to their new body of work in the fear that it will not meet your expectations. |
Sept 09
www.thelineofbestfit.com review by Andrew Dowdall
Real name Alan Wilkes, this pseudonym hides a doyen of the Manchester scene, and someone who also writes punk poetry and dabbles in the arts. Over the years his band has included ex-members of The Smiths, Oasis (witness Bonehead in one of his videos), and The Fall. But then again, which thirty-something Northern musician hasn't been in The Fall at one point or other? So, Vinny Peculiar or Vinny Ha-ha? A bit of both really. He's not quite one of those Grumpy Old Men types, but he does live the life of New Wave rebel gone to domesticated seed – slightly resigned to his current state, but with a poignant detached take on the modern world. A world where he no longer quite seems to fit in with today's dominant now-now-now, me-me-me psyche. He comes across here as Bill Nighy playing Jarvis Cocker in another of his aging rocker roles, espousing opinions with a mix of distain and bewilderment – like Terry Collier from The Likely Lads but with a Ray Davies turn of phrase and reedy voice. Being of a certain age I know how he feels actually, and the prevalence of gentle tuneful melodies and quirky bittersweet observational lyrics makes this album a little (probably going to be overlooked) treasure – leaving a warm, untaxing, feeling of enjoyment – like an old vaguely familiar film that just hits the spot during a Sunday afternoon on the sofa. Sparklehorse is apparently one influence, and that might be a useful comparison for the atmosphere this album can generate – though never getting quite as lo-fi as Sparklehorse. In fact, it's rich but clear sound is another of it's plus points. It's not all a gentle ride. We have the sentiments of 'To Hell With Fashion' mixed alongside songs about writing poems and relaxing with a Kit-Kat and a cup of tea. Good job he's not on the Tory front bench too – declaiming "lazy public sector workers": "loitering at fire drill / Dedicated skivers one and all … All they ever do is moan"; all to a shuffling laid back beat. And when did you last hear a sorrowful song about the 'Nurse Of The Year' awards? 'Fashion' does see him curl his lip and snarl as, one suspects, in days of old, but it is spiky lead single 'Uniform' that really does shake things up and energises an album that could otherwise have been remembered as single-paced. All those The Fall influences flow freely in a brilliant short angular slice of hard-nosed pop. Also on the more aggressive side is a sneering version of 'Sun Comes Up It's Tuesday Morning' – which only doesn't quite work because the sleepy-eyed Cowboy Junkies original is such a favourite of mine. Shot through with his distinctive personality, it's comforting cosy melancholia beckons and rewards return listens. Time to give this CD another spin right now – I've got some ironing to do after all. Vinny Peculiar can make that everyday task seem like a poetic act. If you're tired of the overbearing hand-wringing of Morrisey or disappointed that Jarvis isn't quite delivering the goods, then give Vinny Peculiar a try. Aug 2009 SUBBA CULTCHA Review
'Sometimes I feel like a King'
Shadrack and Duxbury
 The re are some real gems on here. Particularly ' Welfare Statement ,' which is like the musical equivalent of 'The Office,' so vividly does it paint the picture. The lazy public sector workers hanging onto a job they hate by the skin of their teeth. They loiter at fire drill and talk to the cleaner and the security guard. A harmonica leads ' Success .' While ' To Hell with Fashion ' is an attack on the fashion industry 'You need to lose your innocence before you dye your hair,' Wilkes declares. He covers the Cowboy Junkies ' Sun Comes Up It's Tuesday Morning .' While in ' Nurse of the Year ,' bigwigs from the RCN negotiate a dodgy PA system in a song that has something of The Kinks Village Green appreciation Society about it. The stripped down analog sound is nowhere more apparent than on 'Women and Men. '
With a particularly English sensibility which is reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock or Jarvis Cocker, his eye for detail will appeal to those who love a well-turned phrase with dramatic impact.
Mandy Williams UNCUT MAGAZINE 
STRUMMER REVIEW - July 2009
I always look forward to the new Vinny Peculiar release for no other reason than you always get something different but the same. Let me expound. Vinny is a wordsmith steeped in ironic but painfully accurate observations of how we all live, breathe and exist and yet he has the capabilty to detach himself as if we are all in one of those snow ornaments and he is the onlooker. I get the impression that Vinny is entrenched as deeply in the quicksand of life as the rest of us and that his music and lyrics are his escape route.
For Vinny major success is well overdue and yet it would spoil him. But what is success? This album is surely one that will live on for a lot longer than say the latest Franz Ferdinand waffle. As Vinny points out in the excellent 'Women and Men':
"How do you know for sure, you've made the right choices?, listened to the right voices?
Good people turn into bad. The pursuit of all that happiness can only make you sad"
From the opening irony of "Sometimes i feel like a King, in spite of myself" the tone is set for frighteningly telling introspection. 'Welfare Statement' will have Civil Servants running for cover, while 'Success' and "Uniform' deal conformity a crucial blow.
Often with a melancholic ambience the songwriting is fascinating throughout but Manchaeters unfavourite son surpasses himself on 'To Hell with Fashion' whcih sounds like the Smiths jamming with New Order. Again a biting attack on modern culture:
"Say no to the sartorial conspiracy of modern times. To hell with with all your stupid friends. To hell with money, to hell with fame, to hell with celebrity, to hell with the brand new brand names".
Again in 'Inertia' tha subject matter is banality, but this isn't slit your wrists stuff. There's always a humerous undertone to Vinnys output and long may that continue. Bizarrely the avant garde jazz saxophonist John Coltrane is namechecked twice on the album. It could be a co-incidence or a fact only Mr. Wilkes could explain.
New album review on play.com Any album whose title references legendary writer/beat poet Charles Bukowski must have something going for it, and this the latest work from Vinny Peculiar and his new band The Blue Poppies Of Ambrosia doesn't disappoint. The title track, in praise of the rich rewards of life's simple pleasures is like the aural equivalent of a good cup of coffee on a sunday morning, where all is well in your world no matter how ugly the truth might be when Monday comes around. Vinny Peculiar has always been able to inject mundane everyday acts into his lyrics without ever sounding cheesy, and it's perhaps this quality that makes his songs stand out as being so essentially english, and has brought about comparisons with the likes of Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker. His keen eye for detail returns us to the drab offices of public sector workers on Welfare Statement about a man coasting by under the wire, barely keeping his job while his soul slowly fades. Choppy, almost Fall-esque guitars combine wonderfully with ghostly backing vocals (courtesy of Leah Wilkes) and harmonica that Morricone would've been proud of on Success, an up-tempo tongue-in-cheek cousin of Bowie's classic Fame. The first single from the album, Uniform, which has been given some well deserved regular airplay from ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce recently is another belter, with a nod to the glam rock sound of Roxy Music at their peak, and is sure to be a favourite live. The highlight (and hopefully 2nd single?) To Hell With Fashion is a brilliant frenzied attack on the fashion industry and the media obsessed with Size Zero, Corporate-branded 'rebels'. "You Need To Lose Your Innocence Before You Dye Your Hair" Vinny warns, and with hooks on a par with A Hard Day's Night, this could well be the first Vinny Peculiar track to feature on a Guitar Hero game. The fine cover of the Cowboy Junkies' Sun Comes Up It's Tuesday Morning could easily be mistaken for an original VP song, certainly in lyrical style. Possibly the darkest piece yet from his career thus far is Inertia. Where the title track celebrates the small joys of life, this creepy lament almost suffocates with it's tale of a day in a hollow, circular existence. It's refreshing to hear an album that isn't a multi-layered, over-produced mass of sterilised (and often sterile) noise, and this analog recording certainly sounds closer to the energy and warmth captured on pre-digital recordings, no more so than on the closing song, Women And Men.
It's fitting that the name of Vinny Peculiar's own recording label comes from the classic 60's movie, Billy Liar, the story of a young man caught up in the escapist daydreams used to ward off the dull reality that threatens to trap him, since there's a feeling throughout this and previous works that someday Vinny will be found out, that he'll be sent packing by the 'proper popstars' that get to go on the telly, and he'll have to go back to dreaming of being what he has in fact already become - a quiet legend. |
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