Billy Penn's Brother & The Telephone Church - Ruckus In Real Time
STYLE: Rock RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 2709-255 LABEL: GUM18CD FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Tony Cummings
Richard Nicholson, better known as Billy Penn's Bother, has long been a favourite of CR. His is an impassioned voice of and anger, speaking with all the power of the prophet while the Western world entertains itself to death and the church looks on in incomprehending irrelevancy. Now Richard/Billy has forsaken (momentarily or temporarily I know not which) his folkey acoustic in favour of a hard-edged rock band which a glance at the CD inlay will reveal to be Lies Damned Lies. Has the transformation worked? I'd say definitely. The band intuitively find the right feel and groove to a set of songs many of which are dark in imagery and theme, and at times I was reminded of Dylan during his 'Blood On The Tracks" era. In fact, there's a Dylan song on this set, a stark revival of "Is Your Love In Vain". But it's Mr Nicholson's own tangled, jarring images of urban hopelessness and pain which dominate here. Songs about obsessive human love but little that hints at transcendent hope. Maybe that's why this is such an uncomfortable listening experience.
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