{"id":25874,"date":"2017-03-01T14:20:20","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T14:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=25874"},"modified":"2019-04-09T12:13:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T11:13:38","slug":"state-of-the-nation-one-eyed-wayne-target-modern-britain-on-promising-debut-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2017\/03\/state-of-the-nation-one-eyed-wayne-target-modern-britain-on-promising-debut-album\/","title":{"rendered":"STATE OF THE NATION – One Eyed Wayne Target Modern Britain On Promising Debut Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

I must confess to knowing very little about\u00a0One Eyed Wayne<\/strong>, but a title like\u00a0Attack of the Luxury Flats<\/strong><\/em> was always bound to get my attention.<\/h4>\n

The debut album by the Hornsey quartet, it’s an endearingly ramshackle ride, which wears its influences firmly on its sleeve.<\/h4>\n

The Fall-<\/strong>style\u00a0title track is a bruising indictment of gentrification, as local amenities – schools, hospitals, pubs, shops and working men’s clubs – are torn down to make way for “compact and bijou” rabbit hutches with “lovely little bathrooms”.<\/p>\n

Dripping with cynicism, it’s a poignant song, which reveals a social conscience behind One Eyed Wayne’s insouciant laddish exterior.<\/p>\n

One Two Three Four <\/strong><\/em>sounds\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>like a a box of chisels being hurled down a hill – but in a good way.<\/p>\n

Almost psychobilly in its rambunctious rock ‘n’ roll rhythms, it’s a rollercoaster ride of a song, with twin guitars like racing cars, chasing each other round the track.<\/p>\n

Spidery guitar shapes herald the arrival of\u00a0Shakey Shakey<\/i><\/b>, a sharply drawn tale of misspent youth.<\/p>\n

Lines like\u00a0The Ashtrays of Wisdom\/They just overflowed,\u00a0<\/em>evincing a keen eye for lyrical observation.<\/p>\n

Tear Up\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>comes over like an inebriated\u00a0Madness\u00a0<\/strong>song with it’s punk-ska stylings, singer\u00a0Steve Donoghue<\/strong> sounding like a ringer for\u00a0Hersham\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Boys<\/strong><\/em> hero\u00a0Jimmy Pursey<\/b>.<\/p>\n

A burst of Hammond organ takes us into\u00a0A Little Grey Matter<\/em><\/strong>, an, ahem, smart little number, that displays yet more lyrical dexterity.<\/p>\n

\"\"
In The Kingdom of the Blind…One Eyed Wayne Bag it Up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The piano-led Various Artists <\/strong><\/em>is another track which owes a debt to Madness.<\/p>\n

Peopled with colourful characters\u00a0like\u00a0Lobotomy Jones,<\/em>\u00a0it also wouldn’t be out of place in\u00a0Ian Dury<\/strong>‘s\u00a0<\/strong>back catalogue.<\/p>\n

Escalator\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>is a booze-drenched tale or a man whose life goes downhill after being dumped by “that girl” with the “pretty blue eyes”.<\/p>\n

There’s folk-punk in the style of\u00a0The Levellers<\/strong> or\u00a0The Men They Couldn’t Hang<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0LSD<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

It jigs along merrily enough, but feels a bit like a filler.<\/p>\n

After The Break\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>is much better – a withering\u00a0critique of those TV-ads we all love to hate, it mercilessly lampoons the inanity of advertising lingo.<\/p>\n

Album closer What In A Moment\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>is a touching paean to the glory days of punk\/new wave and the joys of discovering fanzine\u00a0Sniffin’ Glue\u00a0<\/strong>and falling in love with\u00a0Siouxsie Sioux<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned Ian Dury gets a namecheck and there’s a cheeky steal of the infamous\u00a0England’s Dreaming<\/em> line from Sex<\/strong> Pistols<\/strong>‘\u00a0God Save The Queen<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

All in all this is fine debut and it’s no surprise that the band has been picking up airplay from the likes of\u00a0BBC 6 Music<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Steve Lamacq<\/strong> and\u00a0Chris Hawkins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The challenge for the next album is whether Donoghue and cohorts\u00a0Dean\u00a0Leggett<\/strong>,\u00a0Don Adams<\/strong> and\u00a0Pat Joslin<\/strong>,\u00a0can outgrow their influences and develop a sound that’s all their own.<\/p>\n

Songs like\u00a0Attack of the Luxury Flats<\/em>\u00a0(see below) show they have the potential to achieve that. It’ll certainly be interesting to hear\u00a0them try.<\/p>\n