The first fruits from the new VINNY PECULIAR line-up featuring legendary ex-Smiths Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce bodes extremely well for the future.
Recorded at The Soundtrack Of Our Lives' Gothenburg studio, "Two Fat Lovers" is a sublime slice of unlikely social commentary from the Peculiar pen. Its' obese anti-heroes are observed through the minutiae of their lives with the skill of a Ray Davies or a Johnny Bramwell, and when Vinny sings "They work together right here in this building, they're not going anywhere/ and if they're happy they don't ever show it/ no gym club membership, no weightwatchers and no keep fit", you can almost touch the disdain. Musically, Rourke and Joyce are as inventive and reliable as ever, while Ben Knott's keyboards hover effectively in the background, giving the band yet another dimension into the bargain.
If that wasn't enough, both the additional tracks, "Dirty Old Man" and "Louise" go on to prove how versatile the new VP line-up is. The first is a sombre, voyeuristic and sordid affair with one eye pressed to the pornographic keyhole. "Use a dab of vaseline when they nail the cum shot," sings Vinny with just a hint of Mick Jagger, while the final "like Steptoe" refrain stays queasily with you for ages after. It's twisted and desolate gear, but entirely memorable, as is the closing "Louise", which just might be a malevolent love song of sorts. Its' opening gambit is "Louise, Louise, we talk about the wasting disease" and - with its' melody couched in Ben's church-y keyboards and the hypnotic, mantra-style backing track hinting at early Velvets, it's a surreal, but charismatic thing of beauty, or at least something akin to it.
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It's still early days for the all-new Vinny Peculiar, but until the new album (reportedly titled "Kiss Me, I'm A Social Worker") appears in the autumn, "Two Fat Lovers" and its' attendant tracks make it plain that with this band trading off past glories certainly won't be necessary. Regardless of what anyone involved did back in the day, Vinny Peculiar are a quirkily wonderful band who demand your attention in the present and on into the future.
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