Leisureland the latest solo album by Wreckless Eric in some ways feels like a companion piece to Chris Spedding's Joyland, as both albums are rooted in the English south coast seaside resorts, at imaginary amusement parks. The album however was recorded in the Catskills and Eric plays everything apart for the Drums provided by Sam Shepherd (Not the playwright).
Leisureland opens with Southern Rock that is Eric's memories of hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd while growing up in deepest Kent in the early 70's, while not knowing where any of the places being sung about might be, as it opens out Eric celebrates his young naivety as the song slowly ticks over, hopefully helping his mind to split open and drink in all the information in the Southern Rock songs he heard. As it leads into the instrumental Inside The Majestic that's more or less the ambient music that might be playing while you took your seat in the Majestic Cinema.
Bad Hat Town is slowly strummed song that worries that you won't know if you're in a Bad Hat Town, not just the sort of place with lots of folks in Kiss Me Quick hats, more the sort of bad hombres you find in westerns wearing black Stetsons before gun fights. Just as the action is about to kick off the Intermission music comes on with lots of birdsong to accompany it.
Standing Water is a bitter look at the need for one more huge shopping centre like the two that sit either side of the Thames near the Dartford crossing, the deadening nature of the places, the effect they have on the local economies as his mates John, Paul, George and Allan struggle to get by.
Standing Sunday Morning is closely observed local detritus seen from a train, part eaten take away's, newspapers etc, as this slightly Indian synth influenced tune slowly makes its way home from another long Saturday night, as he tries to avoid a Sunday Morning Nightmare but having not reached home he doesn't have the family nagging at him yet.
The Old Versailles reworks Springsteen's Mr State Trooper into bitter memories The Old Versailles that is either a pleasure boat or a down at heel pub and disco.
Dial Painters (Radium Girls) is a slow sad song about a group of painters who died horrible deaths due to the Radium in the paint they were using that advised you to lick that brush to get the fine point you need.
The Tipping Point isn't in praise of everyone's favorite day time quiz show but should be worthy of a question on said show. High Seas (Won & Lost) is a slow elegy for all the people who have lost their lives in small boats trying to get to safe harbor, while our inglorious leaders always fail to see the easy solutions through there myopia, as Eric slowly leads us through the murky waters.
On The Move uses the same sort of synth rhythm that Metal Urbain popularized, but with much less venomous guitar, to meander our way down life's endless byways, as the synths pulsate with rhythms from the Strasse.
Esplanade By Moonlight has the gulls circling in as you creep along the concrete Jetty's outside of Cliffe searching for that one spot to watch the water gazing at the stars as old tugboats chug by.
They Come Free With Cornflakes is for the golden days of collection free toys and prizes from cereal boxes and other life lessons that can only be sated by eating cereal.
Zoom (Glittering In The Sun) is lo-fi synth punk gazing zooming in on the town he can see from his perch on the tower crane or tower block as the sun shines through ramshackle machinery.
Drag Time is remembrance of how music was Eric's escape from the desolate eerie Thames estuary his one-way ticket out, as the dockyards were dying, we should all be thankful Eric is still on that musical merry go round all these decades later.
