The Godfathers – Jukebox Fury - Godfathers Recordings

 First new studio album since 1995’s Afterlife.

It’s all looking good for The Godfathers, with a support slot on The 
Stranglers tour and a mighty fine new 12 track album released at the start of March.  I love the title Jukebox Fury, already my contender for album title of the year. Let Your Hair Hang Down opens the album, it’s low down and dirty and if Bolan had lasted long enough to take in punk, I could imagine him doing something similar.  If I Only Could is more poppier, there’s a Byrds-esque twang to Del Bartles guitar in the middle.
Next up is Primitive Man which is classic Godfathers all the way, a great guitar riff with Peter Coyne spitting out the words with a growl and is followed by last years download single The Outsider, this time there’s a great organ riff throughout, as Coyne’s vocal menaces like he means it. And you just know that he does.
The only cover on the album is a beefed up take on Link Wray’s I’m Branded, all twanging, brooding surf guitar while A Can Of Worms veers towards Squeeze territory with a vocal delivery similar to Chris Difford.
Another download single Back Into The Future follows with more hypnotic, killer guitar riffs,  before I Can’t Sleep Tonight throws a touch of The Ramones into the mix.
Mary Baby nods towards West Coast 60’s pop with a twist of psychedelia thrown in for good measure, and Theme To The End Of The World echoes back to those great spaghetti western film scores.  The Man In The Middle is straight ahead garage rock and grows with each play before the album closes with Thai Nights which could easily pass for John Lennon.  The Godfathers have always been a straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll band, never afraid to hide from their influences preferring to embrace and build upon them. Thankfully, that hasn’t changed, this album is a testament to that and long may it continue. 

The album is available from the following:-

Cargo Records :- http://www.cargorecords.co.uk/release/20908

I-Tunes :-http://bit.ly/jukeboxfuryitunes 

Sainsbury's :- http://www.sainsburysentertainment.co.uk/en/Music/CD/The-Godfathers/Jukebox-Fury/product.html?product=E11197513 

& all usual outlets. 

For the latest Godfathers news, live Tour dates, other info, please visit The Godfathers NEW & only OFFICIAL website on:-http://godfathers.uk.com/ 

Squeezed!

Squeeze caught Live in London, December 2010.

Sometimes it’s all too easy to take the good things in life for granted, something that maybe the record buying public in this country have done with Squeeze over the years.

Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have consistently written some of the finest songs you’ll ever hear over the years, songs that stand up alongside the likes of Ray Davies, Lennon & McCartney and contemporaries such as Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.  And with the sold out signs up on the doors of their biggest tour for 10 years shows that live, Squeeze are still adored and rightly so. Featuring the mainstays Difford and Tilbrook, John Bentley is still on bass, with Simon Hanson on drums and replacing Stephen Large from the last tour is Steve Nieve, former side kick of Elvis Costello and together, they are sounding as good as they ever have live. With such a vast armoury of songs, the only problem they are faced with is what ones they are not going to play in the set, which sadly for me meant the wonderful Electric Trains was a non starter as was This Summer and Some Fantastic Place. Still, going to see Squeeze puts me in a fantastic place and support act The Lightening Seeds were perfect with their own blend of catchy, well crafted pop ranging from the Life Of Riley, Pure and Sugar Coated Iceberg.  A short set well delivered, it was easy to forget how many good songs they themselves had like Squeeze, who came on stage at The O2 Indigo to a heroes welcome – “Nice to play a home gig” commented Tilbrook when the applause died down. It was straight in to Take Me I’m Yours with the crowd singing along from the off and was followed up by Black Coffee In Bed, Tempted, Annie Get Your Gun and Loving You Tonight. It wasn’t just a greatest hits gig either, Squeeze were happy to delve into album tracks such as It’s So Dirty and the wonderful Hope Feel Down, the second single from the Difford & Tilbrook lp and highlighting Tilbrooks soulful vocal.

These blended effortlessly alongside Goodbye Girl before all five members moved to the front of the stage and performed a dance routine which had the crowd on their feet. It was soon back to business with Tapestry, If It’s Love, Labelled With Love, Hourglass and Up The Junction taking us to the end of the set.  The obligatory encore started with Cool For Cats,  Slap & Tickle, Another Nail In My Heart and finished with Pulling Muscles From A Shell, a song that Chris Difford has claimed was inspired by The Small Faces. At the end of the tour, Squeeze played an intimate gig at London’s 100 Club for Fred Perry where the following photos were taken. Squeeze are playing The Royal Albert Hall on March 22^nd in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Download this gallery (ZIP, null KB) Glenn Tilbrook. Photo by Dave Edwards.

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Originally published on 24th February 2011.