Can’t believe that I’d never heard of this lot, after all they’ve only been around now for twelve years! ‘Forest Moon of Enderby’ is a collection of B-sides(!) that have appeared on singles and EPs over the last ten years. If this is the standard of the B-sides, then the A-sides must be killers.
The band ally some great indie pop/rock tunes along to some of the wittiest and clever lyrics that I’ve heard in a long time.
Starting as they mean to go on, opener ‘Billy Jones is Dead’ is set to a whimsical almost 1960s style beat but with lyrics that easily rival The Jam’s ‘Burning Sky’ or ‘Saturday's Kids’.
Whilst packing a punch, these still manage to raise a smile or two. “Martin works in Mark's and Spencers/ Sharon stocks up cash dispensers” which sets the scene for how people have come on since their schooldays, mainly without success. “You said that you'd be famous and drive a flashy car/ I thought that I would be the first man on Mars/ But you couldn't pay your insurance and had to sell your guitar/ And I'm stuck in the Midlands. I guess I didn't get too far.”
Whilst there’s not a duff track on the album, the songs I was immediately taken with were:- ‘Never Going Back To Aldi’s’ a rags to riches story of changes to supermarket allegiances once some of the well earned money comes rolling in.‘Merchant Ivory Punks’, meanwhile, is a stormer of a track with tongue firmly in cheek and some biting sarcasm directed towards those who dress in the right clothes but couldn’t display punk attitude in a million years: - “You're making a statement but no-one's listening/ Playing Pretty Vacant at your daughter's christening/
Sid Vicious died to put your face on a postcard/ Looking like a reject from a seventies theme park.”
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A track like this is even more relevant now, when we see Z list celebrities wearing Ramones Tee shirts without having a fucking clue about who the band ever were. Then there's ‘Leave My Brother Alone’, a song based upon a true story of M.J. getting beaten up in school, his brother coming along to help in whatever way he could: - “He says "Mark, if I was older, and if I had my bike/ I would cycle after them, and challenge them to a fight" I said "James, don't you worry yourself, it's really quite all right/ Sometimes it's enough to know, there's someone on your side.”
‘The Drummers Lament’ is another great track, detailing the trials and tribulations of being a drummer in a band. As the old joke goes, what do you call someone who hangs around with musicians? A drummer. Here we have a song that puts it from the drummer’s perspective to an extent: - “Drummers always have to drive/ then go and park the car all on their own while the rest of the band are hanging out in the bar.”
Overall, I thought that this was simply perfect, and to top it off, put the CD in your computer and you get access to a further twenty three rare tracks. If you like this sort of stuff, go out and get a copy now. Just great!
Buy Forest Moon of Enderby from MJ Hibbett's website
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