I reviewed the first Pill Fangs outing back in 2017 and that album was a solid set which undoubtedly brought Dan Haywood's song writing skills and lyrical nous to a wider audience.
This album will cement that reputation and it is more of the same with perhaps even more variety and yet, even more tightly focused. The whole thing could come off as unbalanced with three very short songs followed by the two longest tracks but "Migrant Crisis" does in 90 seconds what "Up & Down You" does in 9 minutes which is, make its point.
The influence of Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine is still in abundance but now Lou Reed can be added to the roll call. Check out "Hagley Village Rocker" if you don't believe me or even just to see what kind of lyricist Dan Haywood is. The Lou Reed of Lancaster.
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Single "Pain Inside" is two minutes of blissful garage pop, "Uncle Richard" is, in part, a conversation with the previously mentioned Richard Hell. "Mushrooms in Maastricht" documents a (probably real) conversation between Tony and Cherie Blair. "Could you kill again?" says Cherie. The track has a queasily sexual undertow. It's almost too real!
The opening track "A Team Get-Out" maybe doesn't quite fit with the overall tone of the album but it is funky as hell and would make for a great single. Well on the way to legendary status.
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