26 years ago, Hewhocannotbenamed was stabbed to death. Except he wasn’t. Fake news, boys and girls, it ain’t nothing new. I read that story in Kerrang, way back when, because The Dwarves thought it’d be funny if yer man faked his own death. Their record label didn’t agree – especially when they out a tribute to the fallen guitarist on the album they released that year.
Anyway, it must have been bollocks – or else Hewhocannotbenamed is actually Jesus and he’s reincarnated – one of those things must be true, because “The Good The Bad And The Brutal” is his fourth solo record since 2010.
Actually, fuck it, I am going for him being holy, because I swear, anyone who can make this album must be immortal.
12 songs, just over half an hour of punk rock that is bratty as the Ramones and as potty-mouthed and ridiculous as a 9-year-old who has just learned to swear.
He lays his cards on the table early on to be honest. “A Good Problem” is somewhere between the Sex Pistols and The Beach Boys, and is nihilism of the most bubblegum variety. The problem in the song? He doesn’t give a shit. That’s it.
And that is a metaphor for the record too. And that’s just fine.
Some of my best friends have no idea when my birthday is, and you’d best believe I don’t celebrate it, so equally, you’d best believe that I am down with sentiments of the “Bad Day” (it’s his birthday, just to be clear – and it’s the worst day of the year.)
In fact, there’s not much HWCBN enjoys – beyond doing things fast. “Good Kill” fires out the leads and lyrics as fast as The Wildhearts “Caffeine Bomb”, “Bad Means Good” is slower and more deliberate and proves that even punks lurve Cheap Trick, “Good Gestapo” rails against the Politically Correct (although to be fair the PC would have probably thrown this away by the time it comes on).
But the thing is, as knockabout as the lyrics are, the harmonies are tight as hell and the music is wonderful, “Bad Things” proves it, while “Good Guys Of The Wild West” starts like a western and ends with a knife fight (guns, you suspect, just ain’t HeWho’s style.
“Bad Decisions” godammit, is a folky affair, as gravelly as Tom Waits, and it does involve “flipping off a cop” but rather like Hammel On Trial, HWCNBN, probably ain’t straying too far from the truth here, the scamp.
And, lets be fair, not a lot makes him happy either. He seems to enjoy sex on “Good Fuck” but “your place is a dump, you lie like Trump” is as good a put down as any, I suppose.
Another glorious thing about “….Brutal” is that isn’t a one trick pony either. “Bad Penny” is like Dropkick Murphy’s covering Motorhead for a minute and seven seconds, but there is something balladic about “Good Day To Die” (albeit it is called A Good Day To Die, but anyway) while “Bad Memory” isn’t too far away from early Green Day.
Ultimately, you’re either going to hate “The Good The Bad And The Brutal” or – like me – you are going to think it is a work of twisted, glorious genius. There is no middle ground, and I suspect that Hewhocannotbenamed isn’t going to care less either way.
Rating 9.5/10
