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A lot of thought goes into the opening track of an album. Like the closing track, it is crucial to the album’s running order and overall vibe. ‘Tarot Woman’ opens Rainbow ‘Rising’, one of the all-time-great opening tracks, and by the way, the greatest Hard Rock album, ever. Same with ‘Breaking the Law’ on Judas Priest’s 1980 classic ‘British Steel’ album. Or ‘Overkill’ opening Motörhead’s 1979 album of the same name. In most cases, it’s a statement of intent, and with ‘Sleep Forever’, Massive Wagons – Lancaster’s most famous export since Chorley FM (“Coming in Your Ears”) – have come up with a belter of an opening track that certainly meets all the requirements.
“…It was always going to be the album opener, a 100% kick in the face!” – Massive Wagons lunatic-in-chief Barry Mills.
“Aggressive, hard, fast… it’s like Motörhead meets Rainbow.” And, you know what, Mills is not far off the target with that description. Especially when the ‘Kill the King’ Blackmore-like guitar tones land on the 3-minute mark after a massive key change and over a minute’s worth of dual-guitar fireworks from Adam Thistlethwaite and Stevie Holl. Thrilling, noisy, and a great reminder of one of the reasons why you got into this kind of music in the first place. Reet gradely.
Everywhere you look, ‘Earth To Grace’ is full of heart. Lyrics that almost everyone can identify with, even the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg will recognise something, although in his case it comes in the guise of both barrels from Mills on the insanely hooky ‘Missing on TV’ (“They got cash for expenses/Personal defences/Moolah to wipe those/Entitled asses”). The background vocals on ‘Missing on TV’ at times bring to mind the much-missed Kirsty MacColl – check them out around the 90-second mark, ever-so-slight, but very effective – as are the stellar Ginger Wildheart-like guitar tones that land just after.
Most of the heart mentioned above comes through the wry, observational lyrics from Mills peppered throughout the album; ‘Free and Easy’ is an example of his keen eye on what is going on around him: “I’m not driving south with the devil on my back/Drinking whisky cos it’s corny/We’re not selling our soul for rock n roll/I’m a loser and I’m forty”, a great rebuttal to the stereotypical cliched infatuation with all things “Outlaw”, but then in his inimitable style Mills offers up “And if you’re trying to reach too far/Just remember folks you’re great the way you are”.
Or on the Leppard-esque ‘Night Skies’: “It’s a struggle when I’m pulling a face on/I always find I’m being socially fried/I’m in trouble but I’m optimistic/That’s life” – stories of real life, all played out with a delicious guitar tone and a relaxed, spoken-word vocal delivery from Mills that suits him to a Tee. Mills shows maturity and paces himself well throughout, often singing in a lower register to enhance his enunciation (‘Whatever Makes You Happy’ in particular springs to mind).
Mills is similar to performers like Ian Dury, Billy Bragg, and John Cooper Clarke: in the sense that there is a poetic side to his performance. Not stuffy, rhyming sonnets kind of poetry, but working class, urban, street poetry. As capable of writing a heartfelt plea on mental health issues – the sublime ‘The Good Die Young’ which features Hundred Reasons’ vocalist Colin Doran – (Massive Wagons will take men’s suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club on the road with them for their UK headline tour in November) as he is regaling the audience on ‘Cool Like a Fox’ about the type of colourful characters that every local town has.
The album goes out the same way that it came in: pacy, and full-on. This time it is the machine-gun style of Mills spitting lyrics out on ‘Rabbit Hole’ that blows the cobwebs away. Everything is fucked, and with the gem of a line “Mel Gibson says the job is fucked/If he says it must be fucked/It’s totally completely fucked” then there is zero chance of Radio 2 playing it anytime soon.
Easily the strongest album of the Earache Records era, and ‘The Good Die Young’ is arguably Mills’ finest songwriting moment. It’s also a guitar-heavy album. And an album that sounds bigger and better the louder it gets. ‘Nuff said.
Catch Massive Wagons on tour
UK DATES – including Andy’s Man Club, with special guests Florence Black:
22 Nov – Rock City, Nottingham
23 Nov – SWX, Bristol
24 Nov – Engine Rooms, Southampton
26 Nov – O2 Institute, Birmingham
27 Nov – SWG3, Glasgow
29 Nov – O2 Ritz, Manchester
30 Nov – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
The group also have shows lined up in Dublin and Belfast:
6 Dec – Grand Social, Dublin
7 Dec – Limelight 2, Belfast
For tickets, visit massivewagons.com/live.
To find out more about Andy’s Man Club, head to www.andysmanclub.co.uk.
Review – Dave
Live photo – Rob Wilkins
