THIS COULD BE US, YOU, OR ANYBODY ELSE

A few weeks ago, Jon King of Gang of Four told me during our Zoom call that there has always been a need to agitate through contemporary music. He kind of despaired that so few people were now prepared to do so, albeit he acknowledged the difficulties and challenges given the way the industry has moved in recent times, with the increasing influences of what Jon called ‘the vampire digital platforms who just steal creative peoples’ money’.

We were in agreement about how unfair it all was, with the greatest rewards all too often going the way of musicians whose records are bland, risk-averse and unadventurous.

A state of affairs which leads me to the arrival of the latest Broken Chanter album.

This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else was released just over a week ago. By rights, David MacGregor and his fabulous bandmates should currently be all over your TV screens, smiling away and giving witty responses to the questions being posed by adoring chat-show hosts, all the while expressing their collective delight that their fourth LP had raced to the top of the charts. And in time-honoured tradition, said TV shows would close with an airing of the latest single, which everyone and their grandparents know thanks to its ubiquitous presence on the radio.

I long ago run out of superlatives to describe just how much joy and happiness comes my way with every new Broken Chanter album.  Like all music fans, I have a fear, rational or otherwise, when it comes to long-time personal favourites, that a day will arrive when I’ll give the new release a spin and afterwards think to myself that it didn’t quite match the majesty of the last one.   I’m delighted to say that it doesn’t apply on this occasion.

Once again, this is a record in which pop and politics are mixed, but not through any sort of megaphone while standing on a soapbox, albeit David doesn’t shy away from making subtle digs at those who he, rightfully, disdains.

“Eyeing the flags at the end of your road, as the media excites itself daily”

“That sickening worm, given a platform to gurn, disbelieving his luck in the spotlight”

Two lines from the most obviously angry of the ten songs, Piazzale Loreto, whose title is taken from the square in Milan where, in August 1944, the Gestapo murdered 15 local citizens and left their bodies on display as a reprisal for a partisan attack on a military convoy, but just eight months later was where the corpse of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was put on display after he had been executed in nearby Giulino, near Lake Como.

The thing is, the tune accompanying Piazzale Loreto is every bit as powerful, having the beat, tempo and energy of an indie-disco/student union floor-filler.

And this is something which is applicable to all tunes on the album. It’s the music that will immediately draw you in as it’s a record packed with earworms of differing tempos, all of which offer a modern twist on post-punk, while a subsequent familiarity with the lyrics (all of which are printed on the inner sleeve) become something to increasingly savour with every subsequent listen.

mp3: Broken Chanter – Shake It To Bits

The lead-off single, as featured a short while ago on the blog.  A tune that will get your feet tapping and other parts of your body gyrating, but it comes with a lyric in which David takes aim at the deluded occupants of, and the toxicity of, what can best be described as the manosphere.

I can safely say that this album will be on heavy rotation here in Villain Towers throughout the rest of this year, and that I’m also looking forward to seeing David, alongside Charlotte Printer (bass), Bart Owl (guitar) and Martin Johnson (drums) when they head out on tour as collectively, they are, without question, one of the best, tightest and most enjoyable live acts on the go right now.

Once again, I’ve decided to put my money where my mouth is and purchased extra copies of the album to offer up as prizes to TVV readers.  All you need to do is leave the answer to this simple question in the comments section (‘simple’ in that the answer can be found in the above tour poster!)

“Which well-known and much loved Scottish record label has issued This Could be Us, You or Anybody Else?”

There’s three copies up for grabs, on vinyl or CD depending on your preference. The closing date is Thursday 30 April.

Good luck.

 

JC