Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * **
The following of a cult can be considered dangerous, a precarious passion to indulge your time within and one that is never truly advised and yet the cult figure, the difference in the fresh and the out of date is something that always appeals. The prospect of finding the stirring beginnings of another like minded Ian Dury, in whatever form, is enough to prick the ears back and listen with a wry smile at the dry wit on hand; in Beans on Toast’s new album, A Spanner In The Works, that appeal of the unusual and anti- trendy is sublime and an alternative falling for.
The call of the corner of the bar, the talkative and perhaps gin soaked, beer clear conscious but ruthless in his vindication of the matters at hand, this is where Bean on Toast excels, even in a slightly different direction, the deftness that some might miss, is rampant, bullish and full of scything victory and yet it is delivered in such a way that the rambling man is seen to be deliciously odd, the different path taken full of scenic colour and not the grey road taken by the great and majestic.
From the opening track of 2016, in which the huge disappointments of the year are magnified, scrutinised and given the pub like send off that so many have tried to do but failed because they over analysed the various situations and like a fine pint of Guinness being poured at ten minutes to opening time in a Dublin bar on a Sunday morning, the anticipation is made worth while because of its simplicity.
In tracks such as We Made It In The Waterfall, the homely and excellent Nanny Mac, Fear Mongering Claptrap and the brutal honesty in Money For War, Beans On Toast sows the seeds of respectful cool and all because he is off beat, off kilter and completely on message; the assuredness of the songs is welded tight to the idea of conversation, of talking through the ideas and themes that run through the album and it is a journey that you have to raise a glass to and proclaim cheers to.
A Spanner In The Works or the musical dialogue of a sincere brain, one that captivates the offbeat and increases the enjoyment of a exchange of thoughts; Beans On Toast outdoes himself in his labour.
Beans On Toast will be performing at Constellations in Liverpool on 25th November