Review: The Herbaliser, The Fleece

Given the last time I went to see The Herbaliser, I had, due to a full can of Red Stripe and a significantly impaired level of consciousness at the time, become somewhat fixated on my broken foot, so much so that I could not recall a single detail about the evening, other than waves of pain intertwined with waves of not pain and vastly fluctuating temperatures. Ah, sweet youth.

Imagine my delight, therefore, at the opportunity to actually go and see them a decade later, ten years older, ten years wiser and ten years better connected to be asked to go and review them for this fine literary establishment.

And for the most part, my delight was well placed. Man, they are an impressive musical outfit. One could possibly criticise that the content of what they play isn’t in form, massively complicated, but on the other (and more important) hand that is absolutely the genius of their sound. Their trademark eerie, jazzy, trip hop sound is augmented by punchy, simple melodic hooks, executed perfectly by their brassy trio at the front, in more ways than one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBx3B0kyS-0

Particular mention needs to be made to the multi-talented saxophonist and flautist who can punctuate a phrase with the best of them, as well as pull out some pretty impressive virtuosic ham and eggs when you least expect it. Anyone who knows me when I talk about music, will be bored shitless with me going on about how much I love a bit of ‘space’ in music, namely through shit-hot percussionists who keep things as tight as a Brexiteers lips are on the subject that the Leave campaign may have lied, and the two chaps in this outfit have this in spades. Thanks for the shivers down my spine, lads.

I was also far from disappointed with the inclusion of some of their new tracks from their new album, Bring Out the Sound, and I thought the dystopian Breach, with its foreboding 1984-style tannoy warnings, was a fine and strong opener, which sat very well with classics from the past 23 years.

However, as with all things, there has to be something of a smearing of skid mark in this sandwich, and it’s pretty much a patently obvious one for me. As much as I appreciate your obvious individual and group musicianship, where are the MC’s and vocalists Herbaliser? Some of their best work has been as a result of excellent collaborations, and although cost is clearly an issue for a tour, throwing just a few in would leave your fans well and truly satisfied. And, to a lesser degree, I took mild umbrage with the frontman, being all up in my grill to get us hyped. I would assume that most of us would associate The Herbaliser with well, the ‘erb, and so both of which are mellow and chill. Please don’t conflict my feelings.

Oh and as for the glorious slice of tiger bread to top this review? I was more than just a little bit entertained by the clear lookalikes in this band, with Jake Wherry bearing more than just a passing resemblance to Kyle from Tenacious D, the percussionist intermittently being switched with Alan from The Hangover, and my absolute favourite, the very serious Heisenberg on keyboards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Jn6DVeNHc