aaamusic | On 28, May 2013

For effort number two from the king of sarcasm and his band (Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band), the disillusionment with life, and the fun of this disillusionment, are very much in evidence. It’s brash, it’s a bit daft, it’s even – dare I say it – astute. And, despite outstaying its welcome, when it gets good it might even fall under the remit of #ProperMusic, although perhaps not as we know it…

I like where it starts with ‘Morrissey Will Never Forgive Me’, an ode to being a failed Smiths disciple. There is a love of aforementioned gods of indie in the overall music style of the album; a vaguely malcontent yet spicily energetic post-punk pop. However, just as the hero of this tale gradually becomes heretic and pursues other paths, Keith Top Of The Pops’ band all play a far more brash sound, with crunchy guitars turned up to 11 and a horn section jostling for comedic attention. Although clearly not the high art the youthful Morrissey fan may have aspired to, it’s a catchy song with plenty of energy and some great lyrics. The phrase “I was looking for a job and then I found a job” may never have had a better home. Yet this young man’s ghost haunts the oddly charming ‘Do You Want Some?’. Again, it’s the lyrics and the shambolic horn section that really win the day here, with the opening verses including “I got a little money and a lot of time,” and “I got a hotel room and some cheap red wine, and I want to give it to you” completely unable to do anything but raise a smile. The jaunty melody and chaotic mishmash of energetic drumming, drunk-sounding brass, and a charmingly misplaced guitar solo, all make for something that, really, I can quite readily have two minutes of. ‘Better Than Your Boyfriend’ is a great pastiche of Ramones-influenced punk, albeit a little too authentic-sounding given my own experiences of being chatted up at gigs. Again, the instrumentation is cleverly done, with show-off guitar noodling, drenched in feedback, sounding like oh so many teen boy attempts to win the ladies, and some handclaps thrown in for cheesy good measure, a la good old fashioned pop songs about love and all that jazz.

And then for the standout track: ‘#ProperMusic’, something which has female spoken-word contributions all culled from the aforementioned hashtag. This makes listening a little bit like watching a train crash. The aimless music of the song itself then acts as a good counter, with meandering, sloppy feedback and wails, and a trumpet that frequently seems to trail off at the end of notes. Yet somehow, the music itself is catchy.

Sadly, despite the three-chord stomp and high energy of ‘Stupid Rules for Stupid People’, it can’t help but feel a bit repetitive and trite. The lyrics tip from smart to didactic, and the music just feels a bit too much like the rest of the album. I will do what I like, and unfortunately that does mean largely bypassing the second half of the album. The gruff bluesy guitar revving of ‘I’m Alone. You’re Alone. Let’s Be Alone Together’ has winsome charm, but it’s already been done earlier. It’s a shame, there are moments of good music here, but it’s just not enough to redeem the song, sadly. And ‘Goodbye’, despite the addition of flutes and slowness, drags. And then ‘A Short Song’ is, well, okay. Winsome, and sweet, but really the ultimate in filler.

The last two songs do pick up though. The cocky misery of ‘You Wish You Were In My Band’ is a great piece of observation both sonically and lyrically, with a neat piss-take of modern indie in the gang vocals, and smart nod to old 50s rock in the drumming. Finally, ‘I’ve Been Thinking’ is the slow ballad of weeping slide guitar and sighed vocals that is the ultimate cliché and the great truth: all the failing romances of earlier songs result in and are caused by the great love story of humankind: people who are too afraid to leave a partner with whom it has just lost the magic. Not a breakup song, more a farewell and fading away, complete with waning guitar sound and a directionless trailing-off to end.

‘TOTP 2’ is overall a hit-and-miss affair. It’s smart, but the joke is repetitive and eventually wears thin, and the shambolic music, while charming at first, does begin to grow weary. But taken in small doses, say two or three songs at a time, this hits levels of well-observed humour rarely seen in comedic music. It’s basically like making the evening down the pub with your mates into a rock opera. For better or worse.

[rating=3

Katie H-Halinski