Mel Goes Funky is the second album from Lancashire's The Mel Outsider Reformation who seriously bring the 70's brass led funk to strut down the streets of Oswaldtwistle too, Mel (Adrian Melling) created the Accrington funk soul stew with producer Mark Jones and The Reformation are Matt Pawson, Dan Arnold, Nick Cornall, Helen May, Karl Francis and Andy Morell.
The album opens with I've Been Unfriended surely not, do you sound too much in hock to Funkadelic to still be friends, Mel is chasing the dream, betting on the ponies again, crime of all crimes his coffee has been unblended, well single estate coffee is always best, so things are on the up, despite his living in the back of a van, chasing the ponies all over Lancashire, blasting out the horns to drive them on.
Consider The Waitress and always be nice to her, even if you need to moan about dirty tables and other traumas, backed by supple funky driven guitars and constant deep brass stabs for the Maitre D, Helen May takes over on vocals, trying to draw you into a service station cafe, she's the one all the truckers come to see apparently.
Doll With No Shoes is a 70's smoky cafe soul story about how she lost her shoes and possibly her dignity, chasing her dreams in Hollywood one blowsy sax solo at a time, downhearted regrets, all she ever wanted was to be let down easy, not thrown deep into the maelstrom.
Take Me To The Lady Doctor I take as a hymn of praise to Woman Doctor, who was what my Acupuncturist introduced herself as, she worked wonders, this takes us out onto the wilds of Lancashire for an examination, hoping to solve that unmentionable condition he has, making sure no one sees him in this state, on the wrong side of the witches curse, that itch really got scratched.
Making Me Develop A Gambling Habit learning to play three card brag and other such childhood delights, I always preferred the 5 card variety, He ends up in the bookies run by an Ex Burnley player, come alkie in classic old school way, this has a nice episodic feel, almost like a series of events for a play for today about the evil temptation of gambling, with a super greased up guitar solo set against the gospel tinged backing vocals and brass stabs.
Jet Black is what she's died her pure blond hair, a transformation with folk guitar and laid-back percussion explaining how the Disley blonde is now Jet Black and totally owns it. Underground Can't Be Found is getting lost in London and trying escape all your ghosts, like you've floated out of La Valbonne on a crest of an organ part, hoping to get back home in one piece, this has an infectious groove.
Backstreets Again, why are those streets so narrow, why is he forever consigned to walk them, trying to dodge the cameras, stopping you chewing your nails so you can play the organ some more on your way to another meeting on the back roads down a ginnel or two.
Milk Round is early morning soft shoe funk for this tale of the good old days when the Milk Round started at 5am each morning, making sure everyone had fresh milk before 7am, somehow this sounds like Stanley Clarke has been exiled in Accrington and finally kicked back to have some fun in the chilly Lancashire drizzle, despatching that playground bully once and for all.
The album closes with Angel Or Suedehead hmm, if the Suedehead is Morrisey then it's Angel all the way, but if its Bird's Angel Delight I want the Suedehead to win, is that what Mel sings about, almost certainly not, this is darker funky exploration of failed careers and conflicted allegiances, shifting alliances finding a way through to figuring out if you're a Rocker or a Ted, he doesn't say what bike you ride, that might have solved the riddle of why Skinhead music makes him nervous, has he never done the old moon stomp!
Find out more at https://www.meloutsider.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/TheMelOutsiderReformation https://themeloutsiderreformation.bandcamp.com/album/mel-goes-funky https://www.facebook.com/planetrecordsuk
