Eliza P –
Eclectic Kettle (Barbaraville)
CD/DL
Out Now
Finally the
album merging folk, punk and skiffle is here in the form of Eliza P.
With the
exception of Daft Punk, there really doesn’t seem to have been any good comedic
albums out for years. Maybe that’s
unfair on Daft Punk, as I really didn’t find it that funny.
Manchester lass, Eliza P is here taking over the reins from the likes of fellow northern working-class heroes Mike Harding and Victoria Wood with her own brand of incisive well-observed ditties.
Her previous
bands included Paris Angels, Field Trip and an early incarnation of Audiweb
before she turned her back on technology and returned to her trust guitar a few
years later. She’s toured with Martin
Stephenson who has now welcomed her to the Barbaraville label and interpreted
her songs from lone guitar to full band including the likes of Alan Leckie on
keyboards and James Morrison on fiddle.
Martin is also there on bass, guitar and percussion, and Helen
McCookerybook provides the album artwork.
Eliza isn’t
blinded by the bright lights either. Her
goal is pretty clear – “if it gives you a giggle…..then my work here is done”
and she certainly has little else on her mind.
At her recent album launch she told me that she had arranged the
catering and a big cake, but had forgotten to invite the Press.
Album opener
Second Hand Addiction launches straight into the wit of Eliza with her love of
the High Street charity shop - “I want a pair of jeans that don’t quite fit me,
I want a novelty ashtray made by Trappist Monks in Whitby” and things that
“smell of wee and cheese & onion pasty”.
Along the
journey through her debut album we visit the dodgy dealings in your local Weatherspoon’s,
tips on how to lose your bills and the respectable girl that falls in love with
a Chav. The wordplay on Oh Jeremy! is
superb and Jeremy Kyle must have roared with laughter on his first listen at
the all too common (it seems) social commentary of today’s TV. On the parentage of her child a mother quips
“I think it could be Charlie ‘cos they look a bit alike, but I really fancy Sam
and Johnny’s got a motorbike”.
If you fail
to raise a smile during this album then there really is something wrong with
you. It’s not all comedy though,
Hedgewitch is a fine traditional sounding folk song that will raise the hairs
on the back of your neck, and Afternoon Teas is a fine description of the state
of our nation.
If Eliza
wanted great fame, you’d probably hear a lot more of her. I suggest you buy the album and keep it as
your own little giggle store.
No comments:
Post a Comment