Lone Pigeon
Concubine Rice
Fence Records 2002

Why is it there are some records you love slagging off and others where you feel kind of bad about it? This is one of the latter, but in the interests of truth and justice, not to mention your musical well-being, dear reader, I will have to be honest. This is pretty rubbish.

I bought it because the bloke (just one of him, apparently) is some old Beta Band associate and this was compared to them. Well, maybe, if you take the BB’s worst tendencies, i.e. whimsical and hippyish, and skip the gorgeous beats, mutating loops, whacking great bass and gobsmacking talent. So we get odd, mild tales of small-town Scottish life, diddling piano, a bit of slightly folkish guitar plucking and a big sense of why isn’t he trying harder? ‘Old Mr Muncherman’ sounds like a very bad Ten Benson song (generally an excellent band). Faint hints of ‘Penny Lane’ here and there, which is hardly a compliment.

Sorry.