Jobbernowl is the seventh album by Spygenius who are, modern progenitors of the Canterbury Sound, like all good bands from Canterbury the wordplay is every bit as important as the music, as they try to make sense of everything that happened in 2020, how it affected them and all the loss they and everyone else suffered.
Spygenius are Peter Watts, Ruth Rogers, Alan Canning and Matt Byrne.
The album starts with the wonderfully Puntastic I Dig Your New Robes, Pierre that sounds like an English Human Hands (Circa the comeback Emily Watson EP) but with some sharp lyrics about how the pandemic has reshaped everything, how our latter day Robespierre's are indeed in need of as much distain and contempt as the original one, yes once again the Emperor has been caught without his clothes, and this was before news of Boris' defenestration and the abundant mistresses hit the news, as we hope for some new better future.
Sky-Pie, Century 21 wonder how all those pie in the sky ideas came to fruition, how we ended up in the middle of an awful pandemic and a surfeit of demagoguery, the whip smart lyrics are accompanied by urgent Power pop in the style of super obscure American band Molly Has A Farm, as we all try to walk normally rather than as if we are in Thunderbirds.
2020 Revision takes a long look of regret at that most unusual of years, when everything fell apart and we all lost far too many loved ones, as the organ rises, yet more connections are lost to the Virus. This is a gentle evocation rather than a full-on onslaught of pain and sorrow, but its effective in getting across how everything changed in a few short months, that felt like years.
Son Of the Morning, Go Man Go! Sounds like they have speeded up an old Kinks tune, then added some jangly guitars to remember more of what's been lost, while hopefully seeing some sign of renewal, as we Go Man Go into an ever-uncertain future Mr Watts would have been totally perplexed at just how infectious this is musically.
All That's Solid Melts Into Air references John Martyn both musically and lyrically as they hope that the current generation tears down our playhouse now it's looking more rickety than ever, due to the Pandemic and it's murky aftermath all played out over a gently evocative piano led tune.
The Marvelous, Mendacious Time Machine reworks Those Magnificent Men In There Flying Machines into a 21st century fabled land where everything was as it should be, as if that place ever existed. This has a paisley dappled feel to it as we search for that mythical rose-tinted Eden.
Mandy Rice-Davis Applies is a hefty swipe at our current rule by chantage and how that changes, those involved in all the deceit and bribery, as more tales of men caught with there pants down comes out, this speaks directly to our current malaise, if only the women involved were as classy as Mandy was, as once again we re-live another set of Cleveland Street scandals.
Screwy has Ruth Rogers taking lead vocals on this very English love song, that has its own sense of betrayal and hopes for the future, of the young woman involved with an older guy, this hits some nails on the head, I speak as someone whose girlfriend is 10 years younger than me. I love the organ break that is very Graham Bond if Tracey Thorn was fronting the organization and ushering in the brass section.
Metamorphosis is the second song with this title I've reviewed this week, this isn't anywhere near as wind blown or histrionic as Grace Solero's tune of the same name, this is much more Kafkaesque as they awake from the living nightmare of the last couple of years and see a different person before them over subtle psychedelic pop that's full of wordplay discussing how to create a brave new post pandemic world.
Of Narcissus stares intently at its own reflection and wonders how we might bring back sixpences and have a different emphasis on what St Georges day means, my preference is the 4-day bacchanalian festival they have in the town of St Georges in Transylvania, this is actually slow and rather reflective as they have a moment or three of reflection for all those that passed in 2020.
The album closes with the very Hinge and Bracket like Foucalt Swings Like A Pendulum Do a modern music hall fable for our twisted times. In the notes in the press release it claims it has hints of the Bonzo's, Tiger Lillies and The Jazz Butcher and Stump, well having discussed Stump a few times with The Jazz Butcher I'm not sure how happy Pat would be to be put in that category, he'd have probably taken his vest off though, it's the sort of song that will grow on you, as you hear different bits of the lyrics with each listen and a good way to end a cool album.
Find out more at https://www.bigstirrecords.com/product/770237 https://www.spygenius.co.uk/ https://www.spygenius.co.uk/product-page/jobbernowl https://bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jobbernowl
