December 1st means Beans On Toast, and if the only two birthdays I can remember in real life are those of my two nieces (that’s actually true), then I know Beans’ too because he gives us a record as a gift.
They are often different—particularly in recent times. A couple of years ago, he wrote a children’s album (I wrote about my nieces then too), and last year he gave us a more conventional Beans On Toast one where he told his stories and explained his worldview.
“Wild Goose Chasers” is sort of like that, too (and so was the children’s one, in fairness), but the medium he chooses is the surprise here.
It’s just Jay MacCallister and a piano—and given that I genuinely believe Chas & Dave to be some of the finest songwriters we’ve ever had, I may be more excited about this than most.
The first one, “Away With Words,” is instrumental (see what he did there with the title?). And it’s a lovely piano piece, and there’s always such warmth in Beans’ writing anyway, it makes sense.
The first “proper” song, as it were, is “Faith In The Moon,” and there’s a line that seems to sum up BOT’s work: “Don’t worry about the big things, while the little things fall apart,” he sings, and that’s him all over. The “little things” are his stock in trade; the things that bind us, the universal.
And just to please those who love “Gertcha” more than they should, there’s a proper knees-up on “The Midas Touch,” where he almost apologises for being happy.
“Variety” returns to a familiar theme of taking in all opinions to inform debate—and as an aside, the recent assisted dying debate showed democracy can be grown up—while “Boring Dystopia” longs for an escape from 2024; the sadness is palpable in the chords.
The relaxed nature of these songs is perfect for “Oh, What A Life” and “Myths And Legends,” which looks at the human condition and reckons “we’ll find our purpose again.”
And above all, it’s fun. “Why?” questions things in a really playful way, and “Glorious Fool,” with its rock ‘n’ roll heart, reasons: “The one thing that you know for sure is that everything will change.” Maybe that’s what drives Beans? What anchors him is more clear, though: home and family. He writes with such tenderness on works like “Bees Nest In My Pebbledash.”
“Before The Flood” is as plaintive as that one was beautiful; the poetry in his words comes through here, and as it finds its way to its crescendo (as I believe these things are called in classical music) of “Fairy Tale Ending,” there is the promise of a better day. But only if we make it so. As Beans puts it—and way better than me—”Every utopia ends in a scam.”
The thing about Beans/McAllister is this: he makes you think about your own lives, your own struggles, and how you deal with them.
In the spring, I saw him live, as I often do, and the venue I saw him in is a struggle for those with physical challenges, and I was going down the stairs on my arse, as I have to there. He saw me and my mate undertaking this endeavor and came to make sure I was alright instead of selling his merchandise. He’ll have forgotten this; I haven’t.
“Wild Goose Chasers” is proof that the human race is alright if we participate, and the spring is proof that some people still practice what they preach.
Same time next year.
Rating 9/10
REVIEW: BEANS ON TOAST – WILD GOOSE CHASERS (2024)
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