The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – …and the Horse You Rode in On
This album has some really, really high points, and a couple of slightly sticky ones, but in general it’s a really good listen and I am enjoying it.
It falls pretty neatly into the area of 80s indie pastiche, alongside bands like My Teenage Stride and the Shout Out Louds. There’s plenty of the Smiths at times, for example, but the most obvious influence in this record seems to be Pulp, whose sound is absolutely all over it. I Pretend She’s You sounds for all the world like Babies – not a copy exactly, more like a kid who looks suspiciously like his brother.
When something is so firmly rooted in a long-established sound, when there really isn’t any musical innovation going on, then the tunes themselves have even less place to hide than usual. And this is where that first paragraph came from: some of it is great, but some is a bit middle of the road.
Around the early-middle of the album, around about the time of Hope is On Your Side and Libertyville or Somewhere, it gets badly robbed of its momentum. Those songs in particular do not excite me, and after the brilliant Stop! I started to think I was going to be disappointed. Not so, however, because in Sixteen is Too Young and Praying is a Heartache they really snap right back into the zone with a couple of sad and really lovely songs. This gives the album a strong finish, cemented by the excellent title track, and ensures you are left in a good mood when it comes to a close.
It’s a long album which could, in my opinion, afford to be trimmed a little, but in general they have some really good tunes and I’m enjoying this.
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – Stop!
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The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – Sixteen is Too Young
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About a month ago the band were involved in a pretty horrific-sounding accident, when their tour van had a blowout on the motorway. Fortunately, everyone lived, but they are all in shock. To sum up how serious it was, almost a month after the crash, Mary from the band described her condition like this: “I’ve still got a lot of physical and occupational therapy in my future, but I’ve progressed to walking with a cane already.”
Because the American medical system, despite its technological advancement, is administered in a style presumably inspired by an ungodly combination of the Middle Ages, the Third World and dystopian science fiction, instead of simply worrying about recovering from their injuries and their emotional distress the band have to worry about the catastrophic financial consequences of long term medical care in the States. They can’t get insurance because they are musicians, so they will have to pay for it all themselves. Consequently the chances of them descending into long-term penury and/ or grossly neglecting the care they require are pretty high, and in all honesty a fucking disgusting set of affairs. You can help out my going to this page and making a donation; please do so.
Fuck me. The same thing happened to the Prids back in July 2008. Their van blew out a tire between San Francisco and L.A. and rolled over, causing some pretty serious injuries and destroying the band’s equipment. They’re still paying the medical bills. What you say about the health care system over here is spot on.
Quite easily the best first line of a song, of all time, ever.
The U.S. health care system is barbaric and inhumane and exists to serve only itself. I spent an hour on the phone this very morning trying to track down the source of a claim for $10,000 billed to my insurance in relation to my husband’s surgery in August, allegedly for the services of a private nurse–which we have no knowledge of and which the insurance does not cover. I am told this was probably a billing error on someone’s part, but I wonder if they’ll cover the heart attack I had upon opening the statement. Anyway, I made a donation to poor SYGC and wish for their swift recovery. I find “Stop!” Morrissey-like in a good way.
Well it’s great, I am sure, for the large class of people who can get insurance. But how anyone can think that simply denying a huge chunk of the population access to healthcare – and once you get anything near this level of care, the cost is so great that ‘denying’ is exactly the right word – is anything other than morally disgusting is beyond me. How that whole debate even happened is a bit of a mystery.
The most ridiculous part is that the Socialist nanny state countries of Europe all spend less per capita on healthcare than the States, despite having nationalised health, as far as I am aware. So erm, fairer and cheaper you say? COMMUNISTS!
I can see arguing over the details but I don’t understand, not even slightly, how anyone can argue that the situation where the poor and the less stably employed can be utterly ruined by something as unpredictable and amoral as illness or injury does not have to change instantly. Never mind not understanding how people can disagree, I can’t conceive of how it even requires a conversation. Arguing over the implementation is one thing, but arguing against socialised medicine (or mandatory insurance, which amounts to the same thing) is just morally abhorrent. It makes me just a little bit sick.
It’s not like terminal illness, or permanent disability don’t fucking ruin your life enough as it is.
Daniel – agreed. It’s why I break out into a big fucking grin every time I play this album.
It is deplorable. One of the reasons why I left the United States and why I will always hesitate to go back there. No one should have to think about whether they should go to the doctor because they are worried about the cost. My family does it all the time.
Toad favourites FOUND and Mumford & Sons are both playing in Brooklyn tonight. Lets hope they break a leg, metaphorically.
T&F – and those delays are one of the reasons it ends up costing more: because people wait until things are really serious, in which case the costs can be huge. Never mind the actualy health consequences.
Peej – thanks for rubbing it in, mate.
Yeah I know Mr. ampersand, that’s what makes it even more distressing and downright unbelievable.
I CAN’T HELP IT THEY LOOK BRILLIANT DON’T HATE ME!
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