Reviews (page 8 of 8)
Obviously English style singing which is good, just a little too punky with the out of tune singing. I only really liked the first song. Nice idea to do a punk/country crossover (early alt-country?).
The production is pretty good. I hate the vocals. Honestly think I'd enjoy this more as an instrumental album.
HAPPY FOLK TUNES, CHIVALRY RELISTEN
So British. This not doing anything for me aside from a guitar solo or two at the end of the album.
It’s a decent album but not my style
Not much stood out for me from this album
2.4 - album felt included more for its noteworthiness than its quality. Appreciated the eclectic and nature, could hear a lot of influence for The Pogues, Dropkick Murphy’s and a bit of Blur throughout.
grew on me over the course of the album
I dig it
Maybe I'm just charmed by the novelty, but this is great.
A decent record, 80s rock with a country twist
1/5 - Utter nonsense
This was pretty good and I guess alt country is a thing. While I didn’t mind listening to it, I can’t say I liked it enough to ever listen to again. 3
As this started I thought it's not bad but it's also not that good. Then by the 3rd / 4th tracks (Hard to be Human Again and Darkness and Doubt) it gets very weird but in a good way. I'll probably be the first to ever draw this parallel but the weirdness reminds me of that Brazilian psychedelic band Os Mutatntes. The weirdness is extensive and covers not only the lyrics and melodies but also the singing and the instrumentals. This LP is definitely weird. Nothing wrong with weird; there is good weird and bad weird. For me it's good weird. 3 ratings are so middle of the road I feel I need to avoid a 3 since it doesn't work for weird bands.
The countrified sound must have thrown off their early fans. The first few songs are catchy, eclectic & the violin is a nice touch. Later they remind me a bit of the Pogues. The singer is hard to listen to for a full album.
Reminds me of the Pogues and Dexy’s. I’m bewildered by two comments that say that they sound like the Talking Heads though, huh?? I just can’t relate to country or punk so this is not my jam.
Had high hopes for this - a punk / country hybrid, what’s not to like? - but I thought it was utterly dire from start to finish. An ugly ungainly mess.
Not for me, not really sure what genre this fits into as it all feels a bit unstructured.
Puha en omgang. Totalt stressende at høre på, med et vivar af instrumenter og lyde. Nej tak
2.8
Wow, this is an excellent album. It's this great intersection of sounds/genres with lyrics that are darkly poetic and beautiful. The conceptual element of the war pulls everything together really well and is like nothing I've quite heard in a post punk album. The dark subject matter could make an album like this a real slog, but musically it leans to the upbeat, like a lot of the best country music does. The Leon Payne cover at the end is a great choice that really fits with the whole mood of the album. Fave Songs: Abernant 1984/5, Darkness and Doubt, Chivalry, Country
Grupo con toques pop, folk y country. En algunos cortes, toques muy de los 80. Se deja escuchar, sin más
If someone decided to start a Country themed parody band based on The Cure. The auditory representation of r/cursedimages.
Utterly bizarre. Weird rambling speech over punky violins, mad subject matters. Sometimes you hear an album and you have no idea if it’s genius or madness. One star? Five? Who can tell?
Really good. punky-arty-country Brit-pop-ish fun
Just fascinated by the fact that a British band sounds so country. A few songs were enjoyable, but wasn't really a favorite.
3/5
Well, this is terrible. No wonder I've instinctually avoided it all these years.
Not bad, but didn't stand out too much to me
Takes the good things about country (e.g. melodies and instruments) and fuses it with post-punk. It works well, and it's highly innovative, but it looks like it never quite caught on. Maybe because the genre is just punk with country inspiration, and that's not enough of a gimmick to lead a movement. The tracks are all interesting and aesthetically pleasing. The first half is the most experimental, and it takes more inspiration from indie rock and pop than country. It's not coherent and the production feels like a mess, but they're ok. It wasn't until "Psycho Cupid" where I felt a bit annoyed. Which is perfect because the second side switched gears and actually reminded us what this album is about. Country and punk. Those last few songs flow together well and use country influences super well. I almost feel inspired to try what they did to punk. I don't think it's a masterpiece like others think, but it's different in a really good way, and I would give the album a 4 if both sides were like this. Favorite song is "Last Dance." It's like if a country club accidentally invited a punk vocalist but decided to go with it.
Occasionally threatens to be really good. But sadly never materialises. Most sounds like a band failing to be interesting but succeeding at being annoying
Interchangeable with any other folk/rock nonsense.
Not great, kinda like flogging molly and the clash mixed together.
Not the biggest fan of country music but it wasn't a bad listen. The first half was better than the second though, with great songs like Chivalry and Hard to be Human which were stronger compared to the more country songs after.
Decent instrumentals. Terrible lyrics and vocals.
Is it punk? Is it country? It surely isn't good.
just not in to diddly dee punk. as soon as the fiddle turns up i lose interest. i used to play football for the bolton irish centre in the north of england celtic supporters tournament. after the football they would hire a function room and there would always be a fucking diddly dee band on and all these english people would sing along to these irish republican songs because they support a scottish football team that has something to do with ireland. all a bit weird and has probably put me off it even more. i'd like to thank buckfast for getting me through that nonsense. the americans seem to bum this kind of irish punk too. fucking history nonces.
I was brought up on a diet of fear and whiskey. My old man used to beat me black and blue, then douse me in whiskey and set me alight. It was an exciting time to grow up and sculptured me into the well-rounded human I am today.
Benjamin Mendy
did not seem to be mixed between the two styles well enough.
A British group that decides to defy expectations by laying fiddles, harmonicas, and country guitar hooks onto a punk-rock foundation should be praised and applauded when it is done as spectacularly as this. Although the war-time themes of the songs would expect you to have a brooding, dark tone, the songs are actually really fun and catchy. I never thought I would hear an album like this, it's an underrated gem. Favorite Song: Country Least Favorite Song: Psycho Cupid
Eh. I know why this is here but I just didn’t find it memorable.
Jesus Christ. This is awful. Singer can't hold a tune, and the lyrics and concepts at play here are beyond cringe-y. Kind of like a mix of Ricky Gervais' David Brent character from 'The Office' and Daniel from the doco series 'The Undateables'.
I dig this! Kinda like if the Clash or even the Smiths made an alt country album. I can hear the influence from this in so much other shit.
Boring. 2 starz.
They sound like the Clash playing Dexys on this one
Un bon album rock dans ce genre. 3.70
Meh
great, kinda weird but i really liked it!!
Actually liked this. Will need to relisten to it sometime.
I think I like this album a lot to be honest. It's got like this almost blues/country punk sound to it. My stand out song on this one is Last Dance. Something about it really just stood out to me, Made me emotional. Just that whole "I wanted to say fall in love, I wanted to say fall in love with me." Just emotions man. Better than I thought it was going to be for sure.
Punk rock and country kind of sound. Its ok I guess.
80s speaky-pop, but not that catchy
Je tenais à m'excuser pour la faute de syntaxe que j'ai commise en rédigeant ma critique de l'album de Gainsbourg. Ça n'arrivera plus.
never heard of them. first thought: i kind of like this. weird bg vocals, nice. music is okay ish, guy singing is not it :( i'd enjoy this a lot more if it was just the instrumental... okay no, shit sounds off key in a bad way :/ i guess that its what they were going for but its purely unpleasant, i like weird music but this is not hitting
It was cute, not outstanding
Overrated?
Folkiger Punk, Punkiger Folk. Gut hörbar, aber nicht mein Ding!
Si l'on passe outre le fait que cet album soit un plagia des Midnight Runners, ainsi qu'outre le fait que ce groupe culminant à 40 000 auditeurs mensuels n'a sa place dans cette liste que grâce à sa complicité avec Robert Dimery, on peut alors apprécier l'album pour ce qu'il est, sympathique.
Lustige Mischung aus pogues und clash. Aber gehört haben muss man das nicht
Perhaps a groundbreaking band, but not a groundbreaking album. Good enough not to be bad.
No los tenía muy controlados. Si me compro el disco algún día, podría ponerlo al lado de los de los Pogues y detrás de los de Clash. Esta escucha me ha merecido la pena.
This album is really weird and also, I really hated it. At least the four songs I was able to listen to (OK, two of those I only listened to partially).
Not crazy about this one. 2
Interesting - I always thought the Mekons were American. A couple of really good songs. I imagine they are listened to by very serious men.
Muss ich nochmal an einem ruhigen Abend mit Whiskey hören aber gehört definitiv schon zu meinen persönlichen Neuentdeckungen.
Sounds kinda like country, but gay
this felt like a talking heads album, but mediocre
Grato descubrimiento
Didn’t enjoy it and didn’t even notice when it had finished.
false
Weird. Reminded me of The The
Alt-country/post punk. Occasionally weird, occasionally good. BT: Chivalry, Hard To Be Human Again, Last Dance
Really good album loved it lots.
horrible
Had to source this elsewhere as for some reason Spotify didn't have any songs to play from it. I didn't enjoy the vocals, the songs on the whole didn't interest me either but some of them were okay.
Not a fan at all of this
Decent album. Last dace is the best song for me.
3.5
Listenable but not really my cup if tea. ***
A bit of David Bowie vibes, but not bad! A decent listen.
This didn’t do it for me
really enjoyed this. great production on the album too
A little bit country. A lot punk. Didn't grab me.
Yeah liked that. Four stars possibly just because it's new to me.
Not really for me—kind of experimental, but doesn’t quite work
Sons diferentes, interessantes e muito bons
Medio punk así gracioso. Sin más.
Despite my penchant for folky stuff, I felt the vocalist had little talent. Particularly hated Psycho Cupid.
listenable. 35!
Folk. Un poco coñazo.
Meh
Not for me.
Fine. Middle of the road. Nothing to rave about.
I honestly didn’t think I’d like this one, but I did! I guess the whole country punk thing is up my alley.
never heard of this act but really enjoyed this album. normally “british pub band” is a tough sell but it works
This could either grow on me or become very annoying - not sure which yet.
Feels like the talking head but with more of an Irish instrument choice hits liked it
meh
Meh.
It’s fine.
Pretty good
I like the early stuff from the mekons more. I found this to be a bit of a chore even with the short runtime. Don't dig the folksier arrangements.
I respect what's going on here, but the execution doesn't do much for me. Maybe I'd just need more time with it.
I really didn't enjoy this album. Which is a shame as it has the coolest cover so far.
i was not ready for this.
I did not like that country music. Just not good.
2/10
2.5
I didn't write the review immediately after listening to the album. I think it was a punk album that include is violin. It was pretty good. Obviously not too memorable.
not bad at all, i liked their other songs too
Not bad at all actually
Don‘t like his voice. Rather boring.
meh. rockabilly is not my thing
Meh.
interesting, proboably should listen more before id give it a final rating
BOMB
Not my thing, but was interesting.
A tale of 2 completely different sides to an album. The first side is decent (first song is great and Hard to be Human is very good), but the second side is quality alt-country cowpunk, and definitely worth the listen.
So you're telling me that a British band did in 1984 what Viagra Boys did on In Spite of Ourselves in 2021, for a whole album, with copious violin, and I didn't listen to any of it until today? Put this directly in my veins, stat. I don't care if it stops holding up eventually: This is exactly for me and there's an entire discography and several relistens ahead. Fine food for my imagination.
meh
Meh
Interesting mixture of country, rock and psychadelic effects, but i hate country