The live album shows the JJs in sparkling form doon sooth, (in Rainham, Kent, of all places). The David and Katie Pope show rolls on…
The traditional gloominess is intact, starting with ‘The Older I Get…’ with refrain “I wish I was I never born at all…”
And they go oh with “I only smoke when I drink…” and “I’ve got some sick on ma shoe, I’m not that it’s mine…” Classy…
The brother/sister duets are really compelling and classic pop.
And ‘Who Does Susan Think She Is’ is a truly classic class-ridden skewer across the Scottish class divide – quite ironic, hilarious and no one from from B&S, Arab Strap and all the others quite have had the balls to cover this material….”she might be bisexual…”… amazing…
‘Biblically Speaking’ is a tale of sexual misdemeanours, while ‘You Make Me Physically Sick’ is another mordant tale of relationships going wrong…
BM is just reviewing this because she is enjoying hearing these great tracks…
‘Dear Diary’ is good but ‘Holiday’ catches you by the bra-straps and forces you to pay attention – it is brash and a distant relative of the Fanclub’s ‘Alcoholiday’ …
One of their best new songs is ‘Wee Guys’ which has a guitar line similar to the Manics’ ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ and captures the stupid sub-culture of people stabbing each other… “No one’s quite sure how it begun”.. and Bobby’s got a punctured lung… average for Motherwell.
The last few songs include ‘Bellshill Station’, a lament sung by Katie, a cover of ‘Record Shop’ by Help Stamp Out Loneliness, then ‘Card From A Multipack’, a lovely brother and sister duet, then into the last ones. ‘The One I Loathe The Least’ is a meeting of REM/s ‘The One I Love’ and The Beautiful South’s ‘Rotterdam’, and this is high praise indeed… another two-vocalists classic…
‘If You Don’t Pull’ is a JJ crowd-pleaser and is a stone classic “I hate all these people, I hate all of my friends”… oh dear…
The last song is especially morbid, ‘What Do We Do Now’ an alienating experience that could cause grown Lanarkshire men to weep into their beer… too much nostalgia can cause an early death…
But god what a good live album, it has every emotion and then some…and of course catching the JJ live is even better…
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