HEY MA - SUBBACULTCHA REVIEW

Indie stalwarts are on the comeback trail with some decent kitchen sink hymns

Whalley Range’s early Factory signings, James were once Manchester’s best kept secret. Then by 1990 you couldn't move for flowery t-shirts and people chanting ‘those who find themselves ridiculous sit down next to me.’ They reformed in 2007 and have now released their ninth studio album, the first in seven years. ‘Hey Ma’ aims to recapture the spirit of 1993’s ‘Laid,’ to which Brian Eno contributed and which broke them in the States. It was recorded at Warsy Chateau in northern France with producer Lee ‘Muddy’ Baker. The controversial artwork features a baby about to pick up a handgun, highlighting the hostile world climate within its narratives.

‘Bubbles,’ is vintage James, a chiming evocative builder designed to showcase Tim Booth’s beatific vocals. The images contained within ‘Hey Ma’ are of 9/11 and and the Iraqi conflict. The song pulls no punches with its talk of ‘boys in body bags.’ It’s finger picking pop with a weird edge. ‘Waterfall,’ was written of Seattle’s Snoqualmie Falls and proffers the line ‘don’t need a phone company to tell you life's pay as you go.’ It’s a rare lyrical slip on an otherwise engaging track.

The epic ‘Oh My Heart,’ is tremendously anthemic, today’s wannabee stadium fillers should learn at their knee. The single ‘Whiteboy,’ makes use of echoey reverb to achieve a beautifully layered track that rattles along apace and could quite simply be no-one else ‘My mum says I look like Yul Brynner too old for Hamlet too young for Lear,’ declares Booth. On‘Upside,’ the euphoria evoked by slide guitars and tinkling keys punctuate a tale worthy of Charles Dickens. The same can be said of ‘Monsters and Heroes,’ a list of calamities made to sound like a beautiful hymn.

I’d forgotten how much I like James. On this album the indie veterans don’t balk from bitter truths. Cancer scans and feral kids populate their kitchen sink lyrics, yet Booth is quick to point out they aren’t protest songs. They are performed with such melodic aplomb and his voice still possesses it’s messianic quality. As a comeback from a band that have been together for over twenty five years it’s sound fare. If you associate James with ‘Born Of Frustration,’ this album will make you want to explore their back catalogue. Start with ‘Stutter,’ then ‘Goldmother’ and take it from there.