Tom Minor has a way with the album title. I mean, Ten New Toe-Tappers for Shoplifting & Self-Mutilation which acts as the continuation of the themes and thoughts, locations and ideas that graced his debut, Eleven Easy Pieces on Anger & Disappointment are both a lot more fun than the literalism of, say, Led Zeppelin III.
But it isn’t just about clever album titles, although you should get used such wordplay, his “existential indie” feels a revelation in these musically entrenched times, a blend of Kinks-aware brit-pop and deftly delivered power-pop and going beyond the merely lyrically smart, instead revelling in a blend of literary prowess that makes you regret that Martin Amis or John Osborne hadn’t been in indie bands.
For those who have been following closely, a number of these songs will already be familiar – such as the Blur-ish bounce of “Future is an F Word” or “Next Stop Brixton’s” nostalgic tale of the protagonist returning to the streets of his youth to find out that he might actually still be the bad guy in many people’s eyes.
So it is to the unreleased songs that I find myself drawn. “Progressive or Punk” is Tom at his most lyrically ornate, playfully reminding us that while age might separate the generations and opinions on changing sounds divide us, those who follow music have more in common than they might think. “Washed-Up Bouy” feels like an exploration of sonic pastures new, even for an album that already outpaces the ideas and expectations of current trends; a mercurial blend of off-kilter ’60s psychedelia and sci-fi-sounding sonics. (His music is hard enough to put into words as it is without him giving me songs like this to work with.)
And although it has already had it’s day in the sun, I can’t end without mentioning “Bring Back the Good Ol’ Boys,” again, a song that blends jouyous jaunt with a lyrical reminder of how those populist leaders who seem such a revelation when they first appear, soon reveal themselves to be old school authoratarianism in new suits selling the same old rhetoric via new buzz words and slogans.
Tom Minor is one of the most refreshing and creative music makers working today. Someone whose reference points are from strange corners of the musical map, who ushers us into small sonic cul-de-sacs and train carriages, worlds in themselves, so we can hear his tales to play out, and who skewers the modern mindset with pinpoint precision.
Quintessentially English, unquestionably brilliant.
