This has been a wee while coming and BM is hot with anticipation.
Some people had the album (on LP) a few weeks ago and didnae have the tech to play it, the BM Dansette was not fully installed in the new gaff – first world problems… But now it is out online as well, so here we go.
So LNFG act Medicine Men have done the deed in full and put out their first long player. And it is a belter. BM has been a supporter of all LMFG projects because this label has such good musical taste, not always going for obvious things, and the live shows have given BM and so many others so much pleasure since, bloomin hell, just a year since BM was converted. It was that Ette album launch with Boohoohoo supporting… anyway…
This album includes live favourites and more reflective tracks. Anyone reading this can check out the personnel on Facecrunk or Trumper or Instracrumb or whatever, point is that this is a real actual band with a great live sound who have bothered to go into the studio and were probably shitting themselves about how it turned out – it turned out really well, in fact. It helps if you have some decent songs and ideas, which these guys do, so no biographies or histories, here, just a review of the music heard on the LP.
Opener ‘A La Llum’ bleeds into track 2 ‘Show What You’re Made Of’, singalong statement of intent and a real “come and have a go…” track, always goes down well live. Influences here are Beatles, maybe The Verve…
‘Golden Packets’ is more stop-start but has some lyrical narrative which beguiles, and some lovely keyboard and guitar flourishes and motifs (get you!) – it is a late night tale, gone wrong… and can only end in tears… some of us have been there. The keyboard breakdown here is really good, and the one second break before the final (and this is a five minute track) is perfect timing, BM loves this.
The fourth track is again more reflective – ‘Eggshells’ also quite Beatles-y in the chord progression, but God, to be in that class! There is again a great singalong quality to this and BM thinks this has been played live at some point.
‘Bruised Peach’ has a stricter and more sinister timbre, wee flecks of guitar and keys making it more like an extract from ‘Murder Ballads’ (ask your nan!) – BM does not think this was part of the regular live set, anyway it could be the best track here, urgent, riffy and blacker than black.
Then, an old favourite – part of the usual live set, and more psych rock, Sleeping With The Light On” is just such a cool track, funky, reflective and righteous. Lots of great keyboard work, precision guided riffs, and amazing vocals – it gets heavy, real heavy, but also danceable, like Talking Heads meets LCD in a Ramones-themed bar (ok you can have that quote, LNFG!).
Mid-paced and more romantic, I don’t remember ‘Realise Forget’ in the live set but some good codas and minor chords here – it is tender and thoughtful, great songwriting.
The eighth tune is again not a familiar one – ‘Ceiling to Floor’ is a bit menacing, sparse and has great dynamics on guitar and bass. It doesn’t sound very happy but includes some gorgeous lines of love and consideration, heartbreaking stuff. Again a very well formed and sophisticated song which alludes to class Motown and even country. Lines like “it’s you who keeps me flying” would be too cheesy in other hands probably only Teenage Fanny could get away with this in Scotland so that is some bigup indeed, paying attention there! A great guitar wigout ends this epic track.
‘The Balcony’ is at over six minutes the longest here, and has been bubblling for a while – it is just great, run out of words, BM sometimes just has to shut up!
And the final flourish, ‘Out Of The Light’ has been around for a while but the sequenced keyboard riff kicks in and it is immediately incredible, BM going out on limb here but they mix early Simple Minds with LCD Soundsystem, like ‘I Travel’ vs “Daft Punk is playing…”, but then there is the unique DNA added, wtf is it – is it them, a bit proggy in fact! ‘After The dream’, ha, is this Yes, well maybe, but the combination of styles is original and addictive, and this will be tune BM hums going to bed, that slayed it at the LNFG first anniversary bash a few weeks ago, and proves above all that this is a class act.
The album launch show takes place at 28 May at Nice’n’Sleazy, with new and rakishly handsome drummer Stephen behind the kit.