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Looking like a young Sean Bean in a ‘thoughtful’ pose Glyn Bailey is quite clearly mad. Not mad in the mental sense (is this PC?) but mad in the slightly eccentric genius way. Who else could write a song about a paedophile children’s entertainer that sits comfortably next to an ode to the ’06 FIFA World Cup Final. While musically his alt-country rock isn’t going to appeal to everyone and for all the quirk it is a novelty that wears off, we need these sorts of oddball songwriters who aren’t afraid to sing about the bizarre than crooning about being in love with a beautiful girl.
Opener ‘Yahoo!’ is a nod towards the Wild West with an almost Dan Sartain cowboy swagger. Lyrically it is questioning capitalism, as does the ‘Doomed Ship Allegory’ later on. Don’t worry though, obligatory ‘yee-haa’s’ are on show. The style of music isn’t confined and shifts from one song to the next, ‘Moonwalkers’ is a moody piece with keyboards and dark backing vocals. Similar ‘Ghost’ is a low tempo piece and reflects the tracks name. His influences of Bowie and the Divine Comedy really shine through.
So far everything has been relatively normal… So far. ‘Kafkaesque World’ is a piano led piece and with the accordion playing in the background it sounds like some quaint European city. However, lyrically it takes an even stranger turn with its subject matter being that of the torturer’s consciousness. ‘The Crow’ is a ridiculously wordy piece of a fairytale battles. It’s also one of the more upbeat tracks but the music takes almost a back chair to story telling of Bailey. It is certainly one of the less conventional tracks, however as I don’t find the story which he’s telling all that interesting it has me reaching for skip.
This is very much the problem; I start to get bored of the tales which Bailey is telling. Musically it doesn’t do much wrong but for a large part it really fails to hook you in. There are some that do however; ‘Glory’ with its haunting female vocals is suitably glum and ‘Zizou’s Big Day’ is entertaining purely for its subject but too much blends into the other.
There are tracks to find on this album and enjoy, I suppose it is whatever resonates best with your own preferences. Bailey and his diverse subject matter is a welcome change but you must be prepared to perverse with it, which the majority probably won’t. It’s unconventional and if that’s your style then this album could be right for you.
Listen: www.myspace.com/glynbailey
