“Billy Bragg’s gone fishing in his 4x4” – here’s the new guard
You’ve got to hand it to Chris T-T. After nine songs of the kind of protest folk one used to hear on early 80s picket lines he declares “War is bad / Racism is bad / Poverty’s bad… Well done, have a biscuit.” T-T’s sense of self awareness makes these largely one-take recordings worthwhile: lyrics about doctors searching for Tony Blair’s missing heart might otherwise seem painfully heavyhanded. Instead this is witty, cynical but articulate – the pro-hunting lobby get an especially entertaining whipping – and while the air of warm bitter and student demonstrations occasionally gets overpowering it’s an impressive addition to an old tradition.
