MIKE BADGER’S reputation was initially established due to his role as co-founder of The La’s and also for his pioneering work with stupidly under-rated Scouse Roots-rockers The Onset. His music rather went into abeyance, however, when his sculpting career took off in the mid-to-late 1990s.
If you know him at all, though, you’ll realise that Badger was put on this earth to play music, so it’s no surprise to discover that he belatedly began a solo career when he co-founded The Viper Label, one of Liverpool’s finest independents, with fellow ex-La, Paul Hemmings, in 1998. Badger’s first solo album – the graceful and predominantly acoustic ‘Volume’ (1999) – became the label’s first release and it was swiftly followed by his hardest-rocking set to date in 2000’s ‘Double Zero’, also featuring Shack/Richard Ashcroft bassist Martyn Campbell and Oasis/Icicle Works drummer Chris Sharrock.
Artistic and family commitments again relegated Mike’s musical concerns during the first few years of the new millennium, but since 2005 or so, a spate of new and archival releases have helped to re-assess his reputation somewhat. Not before time either. In fact, even the merest exposure to either The Onset’s self-titled posthumous second collection or the out-takes and unreleased cuts set ‘Lo-Fi Electric Excursions’ is enough to make you realise that Lee Mavers wasn’t the only talent to spring from the cultural fountainhead of The La’s.
Badger’s last ‘official’ release was 2008’s ‘Mike Badger’s Country Side’. Blending a few new cuts (recorded mostly with under-rated fellow Scousers Tramp Attack) with some finely-honed folk and roots-flavoured tunes from his existing catalogue, it was a marvellous collection in its’ own right and it’s paved the way for the musical renaissance Badger has been enjoying ever since.
Prestigious slots at the 2009 SXSW in Austin, Texas, led to Badger’s involvement with the mercurial, but short-lived Nashville Liverpool Underground Medicine Show and a more permanent new outfit, Mike Badger & The Shady Trio. This Rockabilly-tinged band is due to make their album debut during 2012, but for now we have Badger’s new solo album ‘Rogue State’: a fantastic 12-track affair recorded with some sympathetic (and highly talented) collaborators at a series of sessions over the past three years.
This rather ad hoc approach might suggest something patchy and uneven, but ‘Rogue State’ is far from either. Once again, the basic ‘group’ set up features Badger’s acoustic rhythm guitar, Martyn Campbell’s propulsive bass and Kachinas/ Electrafixion drummer Tony McGuigan and together the trio create a live, stripped-back sound which slips inside Roots and Rock’n’Roll houses alike. Paul Hemmings plays some typically expressive lead guitar; Kate Milner, Edgar Jones (The Stairs/ Free Peace) and Space’s Tommy Scott drop by to add backing vocals and Liverpool songstress Lizzie Nunnery duets on the eloquent, dramatic sweep of ‘Rising Tide.’
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While ‘Volume’ and ‘Double Zero’ were terrific records, ‘Rogue State’ surely tops them both. The title refers to the rebellious, refusenik nature of its author’s home town (rather like ‘The Peoples’ Republic of Cork’ over here) and while the songs mostly adhere to the classic 2-3 minute format, they are potent, diverse and stuffed with the kind of humanity that’s simply too rare these days.
Country-Roots is always dear to Mike Badger’s heart and certainly songs like ‘The Tupelo Hardware Store’ and ‘Platform 9’ are among the highlights here. Riding twang-y, Duane Eddy-style riffs, ‘Tupelo...’ relates to Elvis buying his first guitar (“d’you think for one minute the assistant knew what he’d be using that guitar for?”) and the seismic events that stem from such seemingly random incidents. ‘Platform 9’, meanwhile, is the album’s fatalistic Man-in-Black train song; ideal fare for a singer/ songwriter born within hailing distance of a railway line as was the author.
Stylistically, though, there’s a lot more going down here. ‘Big Boots’ is a gutsy and infectious, garage-pop stomp laced with irrepressible Scouse wisdom (“I might introduce my boots to your family jewels”). ‘King Tubby’s Ghost’ is a dark, acoustic lament about the death of dub reggae’s greatest sonic architect while ‘Empathize’ is a hard-edged plea for tolerance egged on by Paul Hemmings’ magnificently vicious lead guitar. Ironically, the gritty, idiosyncratic pop proffered by both ‘Low Down in a High Town’ and ‘Don’t Leave Me Standing’ ain’t a million miles from the catchy, busk-abilly sound The La’s perfected back in the day, but lest we forget Mike played a pretty major part in that development anyway.
Clocking in at a just-right 35 minutes, ‘Rogue State’ isn’t a slave to any given genre, instead opting for a series of direct, emotive and memorable songs that will delight anyone with even a modicum of taste. If you’ve never heard Mike Badger before, make this your first port of call and work backwards. You won’t regret it.
The Viper Label online
Mike Badger online
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