The Beer Snobs are a band you, if you don’t already, should know. They write songs that are rooted in the lives we live, rooted in Yorkshire and finally firmly rooted in Leeds. However, and this is important, if you don’t live in Yorkshire or indeed Leeds, the songs apply universally. The songs are angry, funny, priests or simply social commentary. And the music is in a word wonderful; drawing from a range of styles so wide it amazes and with a kind of punky lo-fi loveliness.
The opening track ‘There’s No Night Buses To Beeston’ is case in point. It’s a blast of something that I could describe as garagey punk in a style that kinda sits in a Buzzcocks stylee with something of The Stranglers in the power of the musical attack, with an intro that sounds like a mutant Sabbath. What I’m saying here is that you can pogo to it, got that? This is a protest song, a commentary if you will, about the state of the country. And yes, I know that’s not immediately obvious from the title but bear with me. You see it’s about the things that affect your life on a personal level that really rankle, that get you all riled up. And the crap bus services are a symptom of the state of now.
‘’The Otley Run’ is a bloody funny comment on the Leeds’ student tradition of the Otley Run; frankly a pub crawl dressed up in fancy dress. And if you’ve ever tried getting into a pub on the Otley Run you’ll know what it means. Next up is the story of a Beer Snobs gig based to a certain extent on the song ‘Staring At The Rude Boys’. Except, and I’ll leave it at this, they were swearing at the Rude Boys. Look, these songs are going to leave you with a huge grin.
Set to a jangly gem of a tune, ‘I Am Afraid’ is, if you will, a confessional, an admittance of the fears we hold inside and can’t admit to.
‘What’s Going Down’ features The Snobs taking, although they make it their own, what, and I’ll say this very very quietly a kind of Madchester sound.Yep, choppy guitars, swirling keyboards, included. Although the start is very much a Soul thing. It’s just a fab thing with great words, and you can dance to it.
‘Can’t See The Light’ sees a return of that puny sound. It seems to be about, and I may well be wrong, not seeing the end to the life we live right now.
‘‘What You Do To Me’ is what I’m going to call a heartfelt ballad. It’s a beautiful thing. Oh, and there’s the occasional burst of fuzzy guitar to boot. ‘It All Comes Down To Trust’ is another slow one, another beautiful thing both lyrically and musically. It’s about a relationship, and the first Beer Snobs’ song to bring more than the odd tear to my eyes.
‘Freak Scene’ is about friendship or even possibly a relationship. Who cares both can equally apply. And it’s a blast.
The song ‘Beer Snob’ is about, not surprisingly, being picky about the beer you drink. A pretty important subject to cover if you ask me. Joy in a beer glass shaped song.
So there we have it, an album with songs about life, love and society. The words are beautiful; words that make you think, words that make you smile and laugh out loud, and words that bring a tear to your eye. All these are set to the music of The Beer Snobs; it’s music that has their very own style and it sounds fantastic.
This is brilliant, and you must listen to it. It’s that simple.
