Never one to let the grass grow, La’s founder and Onset frontman MIKE BADGER has been typically pro-active since establishing the third great band of his career, THE SHADY TRIO during 2010.
The Shadies’ impressive debut 6-tracker got the critical thumbs-up from W&H on its’ arrival twelve months back. Since then the band have been gigging regularly, Mike has just released a new album (and arguable solo best ‘Rogue State’) and also discovered soon-to-be-acclaimed Liverpool singer/ songstress Anna Tai-Hogan.
The Shadies’ debut album is already pencilled in for 2012, but to keep us going, how about this cool little yuletide-themed double A-side affair? At W&H, we’re always on the lookout for decent Christmas songs to help us rise above the usual morass of sentimental tosh we’re force fed on an annual basis and ‘Another Christmas Carol’ is certainly one of the best antidotes I’ve heard of late.
Musically bright, poppy and immediate with nods to both Merseybeat and gritty, Eddie Cochran-style rock’n’roll, ‘Another Christmas Carol’ is a wholly straight-up account of the modern day festive season. Mixing a healthy dose of Scouse realism (“it gets earlier each year/ you argue with your missus and forget your festive cheer”) with wit, humour and optimism, it very quickly gets my vote.
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Excellent though it is, it’s possibly bettered by ‘Everybody’s Drinking’. Very much representing the sombre flipside of the festive season (“there’s no fun for some, just living with regret/ this unrequited love is the meanest thing yet”), it also featured on the 6-track EP but is well worth revisiting here. While Barry Southern’s fluid, soulful guitar and Badger’s pin-drop vocal are the obvious stars, the whole band’s performance is superb and the restraint they display is absolutely dead on. If you find this one slotted in your Xmas stocking you’ll be well sorted.
Mike Badger website
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