I
should probably start by saying that I’m not a music critic, I’ve never reviewed
an album before, in fact I’ve never reviewed anything before! But I am a
lifelong fan of the Levellers, I grew up on their music. Some of my earliest
memories are of sitting in the car on the way to school with my sister, hearing
those chilling words entering my consciousness and feeling for that nameless
soldier lying face down on the ground as gunshots shatter the peace of night,
another casualty of ‘Another Man’s Cause’ and another unjust war. I
danced in my mind to ‘The Riverflow’ and dreamed of being ‘The
Boatman’, free and unfettered, and that some day I could be, everything I
dreamed I’d be!
Having grown up on their music, and still
believing that their second album, ‘Levelling the Land’, is the best
album ever made by anyone anywhere, may perhaps make me one of the hardest
critics to please. But I have to say I am very pleased! No, it’s not
‘Levelling the Land’, but ‘Truth & Lies’, their latest offering out
this week, is a bloody good album in its own right!
From ‘World Freakshow’ and ‘One Way’
to ‘Dog Train’ and ‘Hope Street’ the Levellers have always had
that spark to kick off almost every album in a way that has you dancing from the
very first song to the closing sentiments. ‘Last Man Alive’, the first
song on their new album, is no exception! The moment the drums and guitar kicks
off into Mark Chadwick’s brilliant vocals I’m dancing like a nutter, the world
around me disappears, and hair flying in all directions I’m singing along in my
typically tone deaf way right until the end of the album! That’s the magic of
the Levellers, and it’s what makes them one of the best live acts around today.
With little pause for breath we’re into
‘Make You Happy’, their solid single which entered the charts at 38, a song
which really can’t fail to do exactly what it says on the tin, dancing all the
way! ‘For Us All’, complete with Jon
Sevink’s lively fiddle playing, is the
kind of song I’d imagine chanting whilst sitting around the campfire at
Glastonbury. It’s a happy clappy song, which would never fail to lift your
spirits, and seems almost the successor to ‘Far From Home’ on
‘Levelling the Land’.
Catchy choruses aside, it’s not long before
we’re into the real depth of the Levellers’ song writing talent. What made their
early albums so great for me was their overt political messages. They never
seemed afraid to speak out, or use music and art as a medium for spreading very
important ideas. In their later albums, however, this message has seemed
increasingly subtle, though not gone altogether. When I spoke to Mark after
their gig in Cambridge in February, I asked him if the new album would see a
return to their overtly political songs, something I thought we needed in the
times we’re living in. He replied that all songs are political. Perhaps he meant
that you can take what meaning you want from music, and the Levellers never fail
to speak to me on so many different levels. Either way, I’m glad to see that
their politics is not absent from the new album.
Hardly surprising, I suppose, with a name like
‘Truth & Lies’. Bassist Jeremy Cunningham has again outdone himself with
the striking album artwork, which immediately gives you an impression of the
subtleties of the politics of this album. At first glances you may see an upper
class soiree. But look a little closer! Isn’t that Lenin dressed as Uncle Sam
with blood on his hands? One of the smartly dressed women seems to be wearing
Che Guevara’s beret, and another is sporting the anarchist circled A. And it’s
not wine they’re drinking, but poison! Turn the CD case over and you’ll see the
puppet master pulling all of their strings!
‘Knot Around The World’
is probably the most overtly political song on
the album, an unashamed anti-war song, denouncing the lies of politicians and
the folly of the soldiers who have bought into that lie that has brought them to
their deaths. The cutting line “A soldier, a hero, that’s not what you became
tonight; a trophy a figure on the News at Ten tonight” should give all pause for
thought. ‘Confess’ is a lively satire on religion, whilst ‘Said and
Done’ speaks to me of environmentalism. The song that captures the spirit of
this album best, I think, would have to be ‘Who’s The Daddy’ containing
the title lyrics, “Truth and lies, no disguise!”. It’s a song about control and
deceit, in an almost Big Brother sense, referring to the puppet master on the
back cover. The album ends with ‘Sleeping’, what seems to me to be a
direct continuation of ‘Wake The World’ the final song on their last
album, ‘Green Blade Rising’. This time it’s not just about waking the
world, it’s about waking yourself so that you can get out there and wake the
world! ‘Remember the fire, the fire in you’ - those who were once active but
have resigned themselves to apathy must wake!
So, as I said at the beginning, no this isn’t
‘Levelling the Land’, neither is it a step back, but a leap forward.
Perhaps slightly more to the pop side of folk-punk, if there is such a thing,
like ‘Mouth to Mouth’, but still not selling out on their loyal base of
fans to court popularity. This is a clear progression from the more organic
feeling ‘Green Blade Rising’, which I felt lost some of its lyrical depth
in favour of rousing choruses, and miles apart from ‘Hello Pig’ the album
that I felt was sadly the greatest departure from what made the Levellers great
for me.
This is, without a doubt, a great album, with
some truly rousing, lively, upbeat and yet lyrically deep songs that the band
should feel proud to add to their repertoire. I think I can say comfortably that
this is the best work the Levellers have done in years. I can also say
comfortably that I’m pleased to have got through an entire review of a Levellers
album without a single reference to dogs on strings, Doc Martens, acid or
special brew!
