Griff says; Here is the soundtrack!

It has been a recurring feature of these blog posts for both Gordon and I to ask; where is the soundtrack? ; specifically, where is the angry but expressive and meaningful music that articulates the feelings of a disaffected, disenfranchised youth during this time of ideologically imposed austerity for the weak, the poor and the powerless. We've asked, or alluded to, this question ‘here’, ‘here’, ‘here’ , ’here’and ’here’ in the last six months, and for a while we began to suspect that we might not get an answer and that we would have to fall back on the classic protest songs of our youth. I had previously hinted that the great white hope (if you'll excuse the term) might just be Scottish, outsider hip-hop crew, Stanley Odd (seen ’here’ recently on The Streetlamp). Their 2010 debut album, Oddio, had the beats, and the street-sharp lyrics were full of facetious scorn for vacuous modernity. Even when front-man Solareye reaches a pitch of righteous indignation, as evinced on songs such as Think of a Number (video below) and Winter of Discontent, there’s a certain quick-witted, measured coolness to it; this looked like the band I was praying for, but I had to be sure. Well folks, last night I went to see Stanley Odd playing live at the The Captain's Rest in Glasgow and now I am sure.



Stanley Odd could be the band who define 2011 in Scotland; and the beauty of it is, is that it will be on their own terms. This band are confident, bold and politically aware but, above all, they strike me as being fiercely, willfully independent. I may well be praying for a band who are just as musically righteous as they are politically but I strongly suspect that Stanley Odd don't play any one else's game but their own; and that's just how I'd want it to be. Live, the band are tight beyond belief, Solareye is all wiry, gallus energy; as eloquent and charismatic as you'd expect. The real revelation is Veronika. Her soulful vocals have always been the sweetener to Solareye's scathing rapping and, in a live setting, she really pulls it off; hitting every note, CD perfect, while playing the crowd to perfection with sweet smiles and cheeky winks. And this is a band who really engage with the crowd. For a moment, as we bounce madly along to their classic outsider anthem Ten to One, we really feel that we are 'all in this together' as the hideous Cameron might say. Well, fuck Cameron and fuck 'the new politics' of Clegg; we've got a new voice to rally behind.



So, do you want to get in on the ground-floor? Stanley Odd will be releasing a brand new EP Pure Antihero Material through Circular Records on Monday 21st February 2011. This is just the first of 3 EPs to be released in by the band this year, and will be available as a limited edition CD as well as a digital download. It can be ordered ’here’.
The track-listing is:
1. The Oddyssey (the video for which we featured previously ’here’)
2. SONARcotics
3. Winter of Discontent
4. The Controller
5. Letter to a Critic

These are five magnificently infectious grooves, fleshed out with some hard-riffing, sugared by Veronika Elektronica’s soulful vocals and absolutely bristling with pointed social and political commentary. As usual, the band manage to avoid falling into the trap of 'preaching' and the songs are all leavened with Solareye's trademark sly wit. My own favourite is undoubtedly Winter of Discontent (below) in which Solareye raps:

Listen, we’re in trouble kid,
In recession, and how did we discover it?
We were told by a Conservative government,
To take our worst expectations and double it.
Loan sharks circling and hovering,
Social unrest is bubbling,
Maggie’s back in Number 10,
And check the cold facts,
All we’re missing is the shoulder pads and the Poll Tax.
Nae jobs, thousands gettin’ laid off to save costs,
I’m wanting back to the future, Great Scott!
How do I know the economy’s affected?
For the first time in a decade we’ve got £10 eccies,
And to a government voters in the South elected,
We’re a nation of Begbies with wrecked teeth and webbed feet.
Park overnight and win four flat tyres,
As we tell stories round the chip-pan fires,
The economy’s two years behind the UK recovery,
It’s not feeling very Summery,
In summary; we’re heading for independence,
The election handed the union a death sentence,
If the SSP and Solidarity intervene with the SNP and The Greens,
Then its seems four weddings and a funeral for the Union Jack.

Amen to that!





The band will be touring Scotland and the rest of the UK throughout February. Catch them if you can, you will not be disappointed. Confirmed dates can be seen below; however, more shows are still to be added, so check the band’s website for the latest info.



You can download an MP3 of the song mentioned above, Ten to One, ’here’courtesy of The Streetlamp. I'm making this available for promotional purposes. As usual, I hope you'll like it enough to support the band.

Griff
xx