Big Special - Postindustrial Hometown Blues 
(SO Recordings/Silver Screen Recordings)
Release Date: Out Now
I know, I know, I'm very late with this one and I have no real excuse but it is worth waiting for so if you haven't already got yourself thoroughly immersed in the world of Big Special then this is your last call before the gates shut. 'Postindustrial Hometown Blues' is the Birmingham duo's debut album that has been preceded by a series of increasingly brilliant singles but, as with all great things, this LP is far greater than the sum of its parts. We get underway with 'Black Country Gothic' which bursts through the doors full of intent, driven by pounding drums and shrouded in the swirling electro robes of an urban shamen. And we're off.
'I Mock Joggers' is a more laid back and swaggering number than sounds like the Black Keys doing their take on 'Parklife' while 'Desperate Breakfast' is an ode to that most British of institutions; the greasy spoon, cementing the observational and confrontational juxtaposition between lyrics and music. On 'Shithouse', Big Special take notes from Ian Dury and IDLES but 'This Here Ain't Water' has a more Mid-West twang showing, on two former singles, the way the band can adapt without losing their core strength of directness and power. We're only a third of the way through this behemoth of an album when 'My Shape (Blocking The Light)' arrives with swirling synths and samples underpinning the spoken word vocal delivery of confessional, personal thoughts and fears.
There's something almost playful to 'Black Dog/White Horse' with some Spaghetti Western whistling dancing above the plodding bass line and subtle beat before 'Broadcast: Time Away' takes us down a more mellow and spaced out avenue for a meander through space and time. On 'Ill' the band lean back towards the country music stomp with Mike Skinner-esque vocals, 'Mongrel' was forged in the smelting furnaces until only the anger was left and 'Butcher's Bin' wants to dance in the club but doesn't know any of the tunes so has to focus on the beat to make its moves. This whole album is like a big night out following being laid off, full of anger and resentment but also hope, freedom and potential. And kebabs.
'Dust Off/Start Again' is the most direct and brilliantly incendiary track on the album with industrial sized bass and drums creating a doomy platform for the rest of the song to preach from. 'Trees', by comparison, feels like a Muse remix of a Jim Jones Revue track with rock'n'roll mixing with electro-throbs to create a truly tribal sound. Penultimate track 'For The Birds' is a glitchy and sparse pause for poetry leading us to the album close, 'Dig!', which takes all the previous influences and stirs in some Roxy Music, David Bowie and Elbow for a swaggering finish to the whole experience. Sure, this album is full of anger, clenched teeth and clouded minds but there is also beauty, hope and resilience here which is what makes it such a wonderfully human record. Worth the wait, like I said.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/bigspecialmusic
Live Dates:
28 Jun - Glastonbury Festival, UK
11 Jul - Jardin Sonore, Vitrolles, FR
19 Jul - Deichbrand, Cuxhaven, DE
26 Jul – Low Festival, Benidorm, Spain
27 Jul - Secret Garden Party, Huntingdon, UK
28 Jul – Latitude Festival, Suffolk, UK
07 Aug - Den Atelier, Luxembourg (w / Pixies)
10 Aug - Forum Karlin, Prague (w / Pixies)
13 Aug - House of Culture, Helsinki (w/ Pixies)
14 Aug - House of Culture, Helsinki (w/ Pixies)
17 Aug - Cinzella Festival, Brindisi, IT
18 Aug - Green Man Festival, Bannau Brycheiniog, UK
23 Aug – Reading Festival, Reading, UK
24 Aug – Leeds Festival, Leeds, UK
29 Aug - Rock N Roll Circus, Sheffield (w/ Richard Hawley)
31 Aug - End Of The Road Festival, Dorset, UK
07 Sep - Surfana Festival, Bloemendaal aan Zee, NL
08 Sep - Misty Fields Festival, NL
15 Nov - Rolling Stone Beach Festival, DE
30 Nov - O2 Forum, Kentish Town, London, UK