There’s a maxim I like to live my life by. Serves me well too. “It’s not a lie if you believe it’s true”. Ok, I pinched it off Seinfeld but it always seems to me to have validity.
I often to listen news on the radio (I refuse to watch it as the TV has made celebrities of politicians) and wonder if the likes of Sunak. Rees Mogg or Gove are pathological liars who set out to destroy this country for their own personal gain, or whether they actually believe the shit they spout – and which is worse?
That thought came to me again listening to “Listen Up!”. The new single from Excuses Excuses is described as an “anthem for the lost and broken” and at its heart is this chorus: “Listen up, listen in. (Don’t stop fighting)/We can win if we believe we can/Listen up, listen in. (Keep on trying)/We can win if we believe we can.”
So can we? Or is the system rigged to keep us down? There’s hope here, for sure. Maybe its because the Northern trio are impossibly young and have a glint in their eyes? Who knows? What I am certain about is the song is brilliant.
Think Puppy, think a pinch of Dinosaur Pile-up and maybe a sprinkling of Green Day to taste. This is probably the best thing they’ve done so far and far heavier, more strident and crunchier than their earlier work. Where “Pizza And Cigarettes” say, was a little grunge re-working, this is racing out of the blocks ready to make a statement.
Like they showed on “Far From Perfect” they are making a step up, and they continue that upward trajectory here, with a bass groove that puts them in the same ball park as Sick Joy and the likes, and a grasp of hooks that comes with time, the forthcoming LP could be a cracker.
A band on the up. Watch them fly. And you know they believe it too.
Rating 9/10