Monday, 12 March 2012

The Wild Swans/The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years


One of a bunch of very special early 80’s Liverpool bands, these guys have reformed and released this album in 2011. I was really looking forward to it as it came heavily recommended, and you find me a better Scouse-based single of that era than Revolutionary Spirit and, well you will struggle despite the plethora of aceness it had to compete with back then.
Unfortunately though, this album is just a tad average. In theory it does lots of things I like, and does them very well. But it lacks any surprises, and some of the lyrics are more than a bit cheesy, harking back to the England of the band’s glory days and, on the song When Time Stood Still, name-checking what I assume are some of the writers’ favourite songs and bands from “back in the day”. Yeah that’s what the problem is, it is just too damn retrospective and too respectful of that era.
Tell me I’m being too harsh on them if you like, but I just need a bit more from a new album these days.

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