Ironing the Soul - Tracklist
click here
for full lyric sheet
1 Flatter & Deceive
2 Suicide Dad
3 Jesus Stole My Girlfriend
4 One Great Artist listen
to mp3
5 Forgive Me
6 Operation listen to mp3
7 Dirty Weekend
8 Mr Low
9 A Beautiful Woman in Public Sector Management
10 My Father the Organist
Faltter and Deceive - this live version from the Now tv session 2003 features Nick Robinson on guitar and b/vs
ORDER
| Ironing the Soul has some personal
themes, suicide, delusional thinking, faith, faithlessness,
regrets and remorse; beneath such weighty analysis
lurks a humour and pathos that comes with life experience
for sure, it's a grown up record, a heart-wrenching lyrical
work from an unsettlingly honest spirit.Vinny's confessional
style captured to endearing effect on 'Flatter and Deceive',
the albums opening track |
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Its
county gospel flavour provides the backdrop to
a soul laid bare lyric of pain and regret. A life history
in 4 minutes it features epic swoon worthy pedal steel
work from Peter Kenrick the parrot man.
Next up is 'Suicide Dad' recorded in Tim Browne's home
studio in the autumn of 2000 it deals in the aftermath
of a fathers suicide, a father set adrift by the merciless
hounding of the Child Support Agency. Tim also provides
the eerie backing vocal and ebo guitar. The CSA was responsible
for 24 suicides in its first ill-thought through year.Its bleak country feel has been
favourably compared to the likes of Nick Cave. |
'Jesus
Stole my Girlfriend' lyrically bemoans the loss of
love to gods one and only son as the narrator pleads
for a return to the way things were before his girlfriends
life changing encounter with the man upstairs, losing
out to Jesus...he much preferred her miserable, impossible,
hysterical, cynical.
'One Great Artist', is an escalating roller coaster
of a song concerning the deluded status of an unrecognised
painter at odds with the demands of a world based
on success... 'Critical acclaim can wait, you can
keep it all' croons Vinny in a sneering attack on
self and self-aggrandisement. The listener is invariably
left with the dilemma of who's fooling who... and
there's only enough room in this kitchen FOR ME! chant Liverpool
alt-pop pioneers Sizer Barker in the Art-school
vocal chorus in a deranged finale.
‘Forgive Me' features a plaintive
vocal and country groove and concerns a visit to a psychiatrist.
It highlights a succession of personal guilt issues from
stealing Christmas money to pissing in the vestry sink...
During the course of the song Vinny manages to forgive
himself without the intervention of a man in a room with
a couch as 'the shrink unwraps the tissue packs and says
get out of here'. A strange and haunting song with a dreamy
Dolly Partonesque F.O.R.G.I.V.E. refrain...
'Operation' centres on fixed delusions
and was co-written by Vinny and Tim. The lyrics stem from
Vinny's psychiatric nursing experiences. The song uses
the imagery of the mental hospital and curses the operation,
which has so restricted the protagonist's ability to deal
with everyday life. Fixed delusions are not uncommon.
The more look into own minds the more we realise the extent
of our own delusions, our limitations and the games we
play to convince ourselves of worthiness....which is kind
of what the song's about.
'Dirty
Weekend' tells the story of a couples doomed escape
to a seaside resort. It is an old familiar story of
passion & deceit that sees Vinny embracing the inevitable
consequences of his actions. 'When I said goodbye I
knew that I would never see you again'. This song is big on atmospherics and quietly observed in its detail. 'There were photographs in the drawer of a naked man called David'.... and you know there really were...sexual tension has never sounded so... peculiar.
Rob Ferrier...record producer and Jedi
'Mr Low' touches on Vinny's early
life in a Worcestershire village, name checks Rolf Harris
and the Davenports beer at home delivery service and
comes over all pop sheen and synth hooks. Mr Low was
Vinny's neighbour way back then, a stern old man to
whom a preteen Vinny would grovel 'can I get my ball
back'. The truth is that too many balls still remain
unaccounted for.
'A Beautiful Woman in Public Sector
Management' is a love song addressing desire beyond
circumstance featuring some deft percussive touches
from Neil Carter on the spoons. And yes the health service
looks good today.
The closing track 'My Father the Organist' was written upon the disclosure of Vinny's fathers status
as persona none believer at the church where he has
been resident organist for 40 years or more. The irony
of the situation is self-explanatory. It was recorded
live in the studio. Tim played the organ and Nick the
tambourine. It seemed like a good way to end the record.
The players were:
Vinny Peculiar [now his real name]
sang main vocals, played electric & acoustic guitars,
casio, keyboards, synths and handclaps. Tim
Browne [the straight man] played electric & acoustic guitars, mandolin, keyboards, backing vocals
and handclaps. Nick Robinson [the whippersnapper]
played bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
and handclaps. Neil Carter [lucky starz]
played the drums, handclaps, glockenspiel, various percussion
including a whisk and a cheese grater. He also sang
backing vocals. Tony Houghton [the
games master] played church hall piano, organ, keyboards
and handclaps. Additional musicians Leah Wilkes
[baby peculiar] backing vocals tracks 1,5,7 Peter
Kenrick [salute the parrot!] pedal steel guitar
tracks 1,3,5,7 John Aggrey [revolt
into style] electric guitar track 8 Sizer Barker
[Carl, Tim and Matt] art-school chorus track
4. All songs written by Vinny Peculiar except 'Operation'
which was written by Vinny and Tim. Ironing the Soul
was produced by Rob Ferrier and Vinny Peculiar and assisted
by Jaquan @ The Great Northern Studios, Liverpool U.K.
except Suicide Dad which was produced by Tim Browne
at Gay Towers, Crosby, Merseyside.
See reviews for some critical
feedback . . . . |
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