It seems rather ridiculous to be referring to KING CREOSOTE'S new record 'Bombshell' as merely his 'second' album because he's churned out so many self-released, semi-official affairs with the assistance of his beloved, Fife-based Fence Collective that he'd actually amassed a huge body of work before he finally took the plunge with something akin to major-indie labeldom courtesy of last year's 'KC Rules OK' 'official' debut.
Nonetheless, the bigger budgets, better studios and 'finished' products that emerge from such industry compromises are worthy of Kenny Anderson's talents and with a suitable gang of trusty cohorts such as drummer Gavin Brown, producer/ instrumentalist Jon Hopkins, vocalist Lisa Lindley-Jones and engineer Paul Savage at Glasgow's Chem 19 Studios (Malcolm Middleton, Delgados etc) he's produced a consistently engaging follow-up, if one of a slightly darker hue than its' predecessor.
Never one to hand it over on a plate, KC's opening gambit is the elegiac, dirge-y string-kissed presence of 'Leslie'. Not too surprisingly, the Kingdom of Fife is the setting for this lovelorn, maudlin song of expectancy dashed ("nerves were playin' crazy buggers wi' my sense of style" he keens at one point) and at least in terms of unrequited love, it certainly sets the scene for most of the album.
It's by no means the only time Kenny's well-worn introspection rises to the surface, either. Indeed, some of 'Bombshell"s best moments are created when he comes over all plangent and plaintive, like on 'Admiral, where KC is (literally) prepared to go down with the ship ("It's you I'll scuttle the fleet for/ make the first mate walk the plank for") or on 'Cowardly Custard': a typically idiosyncratic folk-pop two step with sympathetic vocal support from Lisa Lindley-Jones, sea-shanty accordion and a tinkly sample from Kenny's own 'Losing It On The Gyles.'
Which isn't to say that it's all doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, at times, Kenny seems to be quietly revelling in the bigger productions he can conduct these days. Take, for example, 'Nooks': a strident indie-rocker with lots of first-flush imagery ("I can't think to tie my boots/ I can't think to dye my roots") or the excellent 'There's None Of That' which is far racier and more engaging than a song bemoaning a crumbling relationship ("you know when hands touch and there's that spark of electrical somethin' or other?...well, there's none o' that") by rights ought to be. Even sparkier is the recent single 'You've No Clue, Do You' which gets a 'Boys & Girls' -style disco-pop makeover from in-demand studio team Quarmby & Bacon although it sits a little uneasily with the rest of the record's content.
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Arguably the record's best moment is retained for the final strait, however. Once again referencing his Fence Collective links, the approaching-epic 'At The W.A.L' contains a sample from KC's 'Harbour The Hillfolk' and also reprises the "it's gonna be alright" refrain from Fence stalwarts HMS GINAFORE'S 'Gregory's Girl' before the band get hold of it and elevate it considerably, taking in the requisite big, fiery ending and leaving it to smoulder in a torrential storm of electronic white noise. After this shock to the system, the wonderfully hymnal 'And The Racket They Made' adds a suitably dignified full stop and, as usual, leaves you pondering where this singular character may wander off to next.
'Bombshell', then, doesn't exactly live up to its' title in the sense that it's both a consolidation and and extension of the mid-fi strides he made with 'KC Rules OK' and - 'You've No Clue' aside - isn't exactly the all-out pop record some of us think he could make if he wanted to. Having said that, it's anything but a disappointment and proves Kenny Anderson and popularity aren't such strange bedfellows after all. Looks like we should get used to this state of affairs.
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