OR   Search for Artist/Title    Advanced Search
 
you are not logged in...  [login] 
All Reviews    Edit This Review     
Review: 'Bonesetters'
'Shocking Revelations'   

-  Label: 'Chartist Records'
-  Genre: 'Folk' -  Release Date: '5.11.18.'

Our Rating:
Bonesetters are back with the band's second album who as ever are Bonesetter Rhys and his current companeros who this time round include Mark Braby and Jack Hayter.

The album opens with the Anti swamp folk of Burning Bush (Stain Of The Nation Speech) that spits bile and hatred at those who let Grenfell and other tragedies of recent times happen. Together sounds like a political conference speech mantra as we hear what we should do together while all sorts of tragic events are recalled and as the music goes off in several directions at once from straight folk to anti-folk with a dose of music hall whimsy for good measure this Tale of the Trumpian nightmare unfolds and eventually closes with a snatch of Amazing Grace.

Tender Commendments sounds anything but tender being a full on angry blast of punky anti-folk to aggravate the senses and get you thinking. I Will Be With you Whatever is a tender love song or is it and will Rhys be with you forever or will he have other stuff to do either way it's stripped back and quite pleasant until of course the bitter bile rises up and it reveals it's sting in the tail and it's real meaning before the Cello makes the outro sound like Apocalyptica.

Goode Olde Englande/Land Of My Daughter reworks some old English folk into a modern stew with the recorder battling against some whistling as the lyrics get more entwined in a bitter view of the state of our once great nation until it's time to make a slightly less earnest version of Land Of My Daughter than Billy Bragg would have. It's also not the first time listening to this album that it reminds me of a band trying to update The Weavers musical blueprint while tipping nods to Rhys' Welsh English life.

The Ecstasy Of Trees sounds like a song title nicked from Circulus or Mike Heron and the song is kind of a mix of those influences and wonderfully out there lyrics about how trees have feelings too etc. To Bring Food To The Table is of course about the idiocy of anyone starving in this day and age twisted through some cool fiddle led askew anti folk rock.

The album ends with a nicely odd version of Land Of My Son with some cool harp intertwining with the sparse cymbals making it a cool and odd version that still feels like The Weavers go prog folk feel to it.

Find out more at www.bonesetter.bandcamp.com and the CD is worth getting for Rhys's artwork of the Dragon destroying us.
  author: simonovitch

[Show all reviews for this Artist]

READERS COMMENTS    10 comments still available (max 10)    [Click here to add your own comments]

There are currently no comments...
----------