Album Review: Kano “Made in the Manor”-Grime Grows Up

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Grime’s recent revival seemed for a long time to have passed Kano by, with nothing heard from the writer of “P’s and Q’s” long after Stormzy had appeared seemingly from nowhere, JME had released his most successful album to date and Skepta and Lethal Bizzle had dragged Grime from Room 2 into the spotlight with “Shutdown” and “Fester Skank” respectively.

“Made in the Manor” is Kano’s answer to the question posed by his absence, and by and large it’s a very satisfying answer indeed. From the opening Track “Hail”, with its ominous backing track and driving bass, through to standout track “3 Wheel-ups” featuring stellar verses from Giggs and Wiley, it seems like Kano has lost none of his ability or aggression during his time away. The album does tail off slightly in the middle, with slower songs like “Little Sis” and “Deep Blues” featuring Damon Albarn blunting the raw energy of the opening salvo, before switching back to the original fury on the bonus tracks “Garageskankfreestyle” and “Flow of the Year” featuring JME. The middle portion is packed full of meaning and is obviously deeply personal to Kano, but musically it just doesn’t work quite as well as the more ‘traditional’ and aggressive Grime tracks at the beginning and end of the album, and would perhaps work better if it wasn’t sandwiched in between said tracks.

Part of Kano seems happy to revel in the lifestyle of the Grime superstar, with the line “Pussy and rum, that’s a rider for real OG’s” on “3 Wheel-ups” clearly showing that poetry doesn’t have to be meaningful to sound great. On the other hand “Made in the Manor” is more introspective than Grime has ever been before and songs like “Deep Blues” show that Kano isn’t scared to provide a critical look at his childhood and the violence and death that came with it. Just don’t expect the songs that grapple with these issues to be as catchy or danceable as others on the album and you’ll appreciate them a lot more, even if they do make the album feel more than a little bit schizophrenic.

Overall “Made in the Manor” is as much a trip down memory lane as it is a brand new album, with call-backs like “back when Lethal Bizzle was Lethal B” and references to D Double E and “Doin’ it Again” by Skepta being a clear nod to Grime’s heritage and the original artists that are taking part in the current revival. This sense of nostalgia goes further than the Grime scene however, with constant references to London and its history, from Reggie Kray to jellied eels and wagon wheels, showing that no matter how many US rappers are signed to BBK and how many American tours artists like Skepta go on, Grime is still a peculiarly and proudly British phenomenon, one that was born in London and Made in the Manor.

Review-Adrenalin Baby-Johnny Marr Live

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Johnny Marr, best and most fondly remembered as the guitarist and co-writer for The Smiths, has mounted somewhat of a comeback over the last few years, with two solo albums both well received by critics and fans alike. Adrenalin Baby is somewhat different, being a live album recorded from Marr’s tour and including hits from The Smiths’ back catalogue as well as his own and even featuring a cover of The Clash’s famous song I Fought The Law, but the real question is: how well does it hold up?

The answer is surprisingly well, as a confusingly long barrage of noise at the start of Playland soon gives way to a punchy sound that blends Marr’s considerable talent on the guitar with surprisingly slick vocals reminiscent of a pumped up and slightly more in tune Noel Gallagher, although that could be just be due to the Mancunian connection between the two. Between songs the crowd are enthusiastic and the man himself offers a few choice phrases but this crowd noise is only present between numbers and is not allowed to interfere with the songs themselves, meaning you never feel like you have to fight through the cheers to get at the music, an annoyance that many live albums  suffer from.

Marr’s performance on Smiths classics like Bigmouth Strikes Again and There is a Light That Never Goes Out is equally good, with Marr’s guitar being as inimitable and brilliant as ever and his vocals doing a surprisingly good job of fitting the song without devolving into a poor man’s Morrissey karaoke set, something that is easily done (it’s also nice to be able to hear the lyrics that often get lost in Morrissey’s trademark warble). The Post-Smiths offerings are in places just as good and Adrenalin Baby plays like something of a greatest hits for a man that has been active in the industry for so long and has often been unfairly overlooked. Whilst waiting for the first song by The Smiths you realise that Johnny Marr’s made some damned good songs (listen to New Town Velocity and you’ll see what I mean) and many of them may have passed you by, I know they did me.

Overall Adrenalin Baby is a great introduction to Johnny Marr’s solo career and just goes to show that even if he doesn’t make the headlines as much as Morrissey, and may not have the same rabid fan base, he’s still a hell of a musician and a pleasure to listen to. From somebody that has seen Marr live I can also attest to the fact that the crowd reaction in this album isn’t at all staged, he really is that good live and I’d recommend both his live set and this live album to anyone.

(Originally published in The Spark*)

Album: Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids (Self Titled)

"Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids are really neat. But my father wants them to stop cruising in our neighbourhood."

Flash Cadillac were an American Rock 'n' Roll band formed in 1969 and most famous for their portrayal of Herbie and the Heartbeats in the film American Graffiti. Flash Cadillac fused their classic 50's Rock 'n' roll sound with the popular Surf style that came afterwards and the result is a sound that departs from the classic sound of artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Eddie Cochran whilst still remaining true to the foundations that these legends put down. The first song is an upbeat cover of the country classic Mule Skinner Blues, which tells the tale of a man looking for work, hoping to earn a "Dollar a day". In the Cadillac's version however, this story takes a back seat to the punchy rhythm and variety of strange noises singer Flash accompanies the music with. this opener sets the tone of the album, a classic base from which the band pushes outward, with the finished song sounding as distinctive as if the Cadillacs had written it themselves.

From this country cover the band move on to an original composition named Reputation, A classic fast paced Rock 'N' Roll song about a man's turbulent love life, held together by an unmistakable guitar riff and making use of the Summertime Blues classic Deep voiced authority figure who warns "you better be no later than one, son". Coming straight after the excellent cover of Mule Skinner Blues you could be forgiven for thinking that Reputation  was another tribute, so much does it sound like it was ripped straight from Rock 'n' Roll's golden age.

The third song, Crying in the Rain is a slower paced affair and not nearly as impressive as the opening two, seeming to drag despite being under two and a half minutes long. Whilst not terrible by any means Crying in the Rain seems to be Flash Cadillac's attempt at a classic love song, complete with backing vocals singing "shalalala", but rather than a sincere story of heartbreak it comes across more as a cheesy and lacklustre ballad, lacking a recognisable chorus or guitar riff to pull it together.

Luckily the record soon picks up again, with the fourth and fifth tracks, Teenage Eyes and Betty Lou once again showing what the band are capable of, with both having catchy lyrics and memorable piano and guitar parts to back them up. Betty Lou's call and response "Betty Lou, Betty Lou" evokes images of the classic American teen romance, whilst still managing to feel fresh and distinct from the myriad other songs written on the same subject. 

Rounding off the first side is a cover of the instrumental track Pipeline, which, whilst enjoyable , is not a memorable enough interpretation to set it above the other covers of the song, or indeed the original.

Moving onto side two and the opener She's so Fine, featured in the film American Graffiti. Owing a lot more to the surf sound of bands such as the Beach Boys than it does to the Rock 'n' Roll sound present on the first side of the album, one wonders if this is due to the input of the film-makers or a choice by the band. Whilst this would normally be quite jarring, putting the song on the beginning of side two stops this feeling of discontinuity and the song itself is one of the better to be made after the genre's heyday in the early 60's.

Tell Him No, a plea from the singer for a girl to reject another man, is good but largely forgettable, and one gets the feeling that The Cadillacs had run out of ideas at this point in the album. This feeling is short lived however, and swiftly dispelled by the thumping bass and catchy vocals of the next track Nothin' for Me, a kind of reverse love song in which Flash sings "You're not the only fish in the sea".

This is definitely the standout track of side two, with the following songs lapsing back into the routine of a traditional Rock 'n' Roll song (You Gotta Rock) and Endless Sleep, a forgettable love song, albeit with a menacing guitar sound that does its best to pull the rest of the song up from mediocrity, and almost, but not quite, succeeds.

Ending the album is Up on the Mountain, A fast paced track about a man whose wife ran away with all his money. Again showing just how good Flash Cadillac can be, the song combines good lyrics with recognisable riffs and a bassline that ties the song together, resulting in a Rock 'n' Roll sound that evokes the feeling of the 50's, whilst still being unmistakably theirs.

A link to the full album can be found below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIMp0plM0_g