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ARTiST....: gallon drunk
TiTLE.....: the rotten mile
LABEL.....: Fred
GENRE.....: rock
SOURCE....: cdda
QUALiTY...: VBR / joint-stereo
SiZE......: 68,2 MB
REL.DATE..: jan-20-2008
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01] the rotten mile 04:52
02] give me back what's mine 02:16
03] down at the harbour 03:40
04] put the bolt in the door 03:35
05] grand union canal 02:51
06] on ward 10 05:53
07] running out of time 03:17
08] bad servant 03:16
09] night panic bossa 04:16
10] christmas 02:35
11] all hands lost at sea 04:36
12] the shadow of your smile 02:47
TOTAL TiME : 43:54 min
James Johnston, lead singer and guitarist with
London-based Gallon Drunk has weathered much since
the earliest days of the band in the early 90s.
Not only is he the only original member left, heÆs
also spent a significant part of the interim as a
member of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds; a band who GD
have constantly been accused of aping. So, in this
newest guise with new bassist Simon Wring, can the
be-suited purveyors of louche garage jazz offer
anything new?
The Rotten Mile kicks off in absolutely corking
style with the title track. The sheets of guitar
noise thrown up and plastered with ex-Higson,
Terry Edwards' squalling sax remind the listener
more of Cave's previous band, The Birthday Party.
It's a kind of mutant jazzabilly rumble that sends
warning signals to those of a weaker constitution.
Coupled with the cover shots of seedy club
interiors and the guys hanging around in their
sub-gangster clobber, this could be taken as
ultra-realism, or as just dressing up as hard men.
After about four tracks the songs defiantly refuse
to say anything else other than: 'Here's life in
the Big Smoke. It's all a bit heavy, innit?'
Everything's 'a mess' (''Bad Servant''),
'hopeless' (''Grand Union Canal'') or plain
'damned and desperate' (''Put A Bolt In The
Door''). Get the picture?
This isn't to say that GD are mere copyists of
Cave's courting of the underworld. They have a
fine line in accomplished mayhem that, aided by
Ian White's rattling drums and the aforementioned
Edward's horns, can almost convince you that this
is a real ride to hell. The London-centric theme
is nicely varied with "Down At The Harbour"
transposing the heaviness back in time to the 19th
century docklands. Yet the tales of madness on the
Northern Line ("Give Me Back What's Mine") and
terminal casualty ("On Ward 10") too often sound
posturing rather than dangerous. The closing cover
of Johnny Mercer's "The Shadow Of Your Smile" is,
however, a nicely mellow (albeit creepy) cure-all
for all the angst. But maybe GD's time has truly
passed.
Buy me if you love me :)