CHRIS POPE & THE CHORDS UK
Big City Dreams
9/10
Chris Pope and The Chords UK seamlessly continue their rich vein of form with the vivacious album ‘Big City Dreams’. The “Power-Pop combo” or “Mod Revival” band tags are a nowt more than a lazy stereotype when name-checking The Chords UK. Their irresistible sound incorporates all of Britains considerable subcultures with Punk, Pop, 2-Tone, Pub Rock, Mod Revival and Rythym And Blues all having a guiding hand. However, all these heart beatings and life-affirming influences are pretty much redundant if you can’t write a decent tune. Chris Pope doesn’t just write decent tunes he writes f*cking monumental ones as ‘Big City Dreams’ confirms, once again. Opener ‘Listen To The Radio’ crackles with an early Eighties dancehall beat and a chorus that gloriously lands somewhere between The Ramones, The Buggles, John Cougar Mellencamp and Mott The Hoople. The second track ‘The Last Great Rockstar’ splits floorboards with its bouncing resonance before ‘Hey Kids! Come The Revolution’ bristles with a Citizen Smith meets chip shop heroes and bar stool bullshitters.
As a seasoned lyricist Chris Pope nails each track’s message firmly, fairly and with an inner confidence that dismisses the wishy-washy maybe, lady, baby b*llocks that so many fall back on like a songwriting prison safety net. A spat out ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ is partnered with clap heavy backbeat that helps blend Pope’s well-delivered anger before a Breakfast Club hip-swaying ‘Veronica Jones’ helps to get those Converse covered feet footloose. The album whistles by as ‘White Van Man’ chews on supermarket sandwiches, chugs energy drinks and midnight fly-tips regret and emotion at the local playground. ‘Life Got In The Way’ is followed by a marching ‘A Billion Things To Do’ and the high rise smog of ‘Turned And Walked Away’. The beauty of ‘Big City Dreams’ is in its originality which is bizarrely familiar, poignant and bashed out with a timeless blind belief that leaves you hitting repeat after each track. A laid back ‘Portobello Road’ drifts like a waft of fried match day onions into the aural nostrils while a streaky riff welcomes in the chugging modern Rythym and Blues monster that is ‘All For Nothing At All’. The final duo of ‘Down & Out In New York City’ and a burning Midnight Oil kiss of ‘Great Expectations’ round off another eclectic, stunning and addictive slice of British spirit, guile and unerring musical quality.
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