Johnny5thWheel& The Cowards are apparently a Manchester band, which have variously been described as vaudeville, skiffle, and jazz. This is their latest release, the single ‘Spike’ backed with ‘Yes, that’s right, we’re stealing your soul’ which is available now from Sotones records. There’s nothing much on the publicity blurb to detail anything much about the band, however, here, the music speaks for itself.
‘Spike’ starts off as a vaudevillian knees up, with plinky plonk piano and drums, and with some good doo wop harmonies and even the odd glam overtones. The lyric intrigues: “Don’t be mad with me Spike, if you knew what I was really like/ You know that I just messin’ around, tryin to bring out that smile.” This was just excellent.
The other track on the single, ‘Yes, that’s right, we’re stealing your soul’ is a perfect example of the sort of cocktail jazz that The Specials excelled with on their second album. In fact, there are more than just a couple of similarities between this and ‘Stereotypes’. The lyrics are direct and straight to the point. Hence: “That’s right, we’re stealing your soul, but you were letting it go to waste/ That’s right, we’re stealing your soul, but you were pissing it down the drain.”
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A brilliant single, quirky, different and outstanding. Something well worth getting hold of and cherishing.
Johnny 5thWheel & The Cowards at Bandcamp
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