We see things they'll never see
Stick In The Wheel - From Here
Stick In The Wheel’s ‘From Here’ album reviewed.
After The Beatles came the Sex Pistols, after Oasis came The Libertines and now, after Mumford & Sons come Stick In The Wheel to rejuvenate the folk genre.
No one could have predicted the dizzy heights Mumford & Sons, Noah & The Whale and Laura Marling would take the nu-folk scene to. Headline slots at Glastonbury and several smash records later, folk music needed a return to its grass roots and this debut does just that.
'Seven Gypsies' will have fans of Richard & Linda Thompson's work drooling. Nicola Kearey’s cockney-cum-traditional English folk vocals deliver an innocence and danger simultaneously. This is a slice of folk music dowsed in punk.
'Me n Becky' is tale of looting during the London riots with dispiriting consequences. There are clear folk tendencies with the use of accordion and drums but, this could easily be fronted by Jamie T. There is a danger and desperation to this track which could see it rise to cult classic status if pushed by Radio X and BBC6.
There are several instances of 'From Here' tackling varying social injustice. Best of all is 'Common Ground'. It uses an acoustic hook to lay the foundations for Kearey to snarl ‘The softest hands have sealed the feat / The roughest ones would never make’.
'By The River' is a glorious slow building number. The Celtic folk influences give it grandness and stature worthy of Aragon charging into battle at the Black Gate.
'From Here' may not have set out to give folk music back to the common man ordinary but it’s achieved it. The combination of traditional folk and an essence of punk gives the album a real edge that Richard Thompson fans are certain to enjoy.
It’s the perceived injection of punk into well-worn folk music sonics, ‘Me n Becky’ in particular, which give them a relevance and impetus which few can match at presence.