The Final Five!

5. Young Rebel Set – Curse Our Love

Been wondering if the folk scene in the UK could go anywhere after Noah & The Whale and Mumford’s pop perfection? The answer, a resounding yes in the form of Stockton-On-Tees’ Young Rebel Set.

YRS are a band clearly not content with simple tales of romance or the lager fuelled indie dross we are all subjected to. Their debut is straightforward and direct, qualities which are dearly over looked in songwriting (Jarvis Cocker slammed the alternative scene’s lack of immediacy so TT must be right). They draw influence from instantly recognisable sources allowing the album to sound like something you have had for long time.

Won’t Get Up Again and Borders are a nod to Springsteen circa-River when he poignantly merged gritty stories with ballads. Borders in particular stands out as a songwriting concept. It reveals the story of a friend who is serving time for knocking someone out on holiday and how he is suffering from the incarceration. All standard stuff we hear you say, well, what takes this up a notch is singer/songwriter Matty Chipcase’s plea to his friends girlfriend to stick with him and not succumb to the social sniping she has endured:

“So have a little more faith / Darling you know there aint no shame or disgrace / Have a little more faith / Have little faith”

Less we forget that Borders is a bonafide anthem as well folks. This rivals Mumford’s Cave or Winter Winds rapturous melodies but has a lyrical depth of a Jimmy McGovern script which propels the band into another league!

Standing out like a lost 12inch classic from the early 80s is If I Was. Vocally Chipcase is sitting somewhere between Billy Bragg and Kevin Rowlands offering another side to the band which is hard not to take to your heart. If you were to merely read the lyrics you could fall into the trap of thinking this is a simple  love song in which Chipcase pledges his desires through promises. However, whether you have listened to this track once or a 100 times like a besotted teenager like us, you will realise Chipcase knows no other songwriting technique than from the heart. He is a man so desperate to rip his love from his insides and put into song. It is this very reason which makes If I Was (and Curse Our Love in general) so timeless and utterly brilliant.

We leave you with a quote from Matty himself which sums the album and band up better than we ever could:

‘Quitting the group he was in, Matty set about writing songs on his own, “doing a Johnny Cash” with an acoustic guitar and putting into words the things that normally go unsaid – the heartbreak, love, dreams and fears that follow all of us through our lives – and turning them into songs that can outlive a generation. “If you don’t write a song from the heart how are you ever going to touch anyone else’s heart?” He says matter-of-factly. ‘

(quote taken from http://www.youngrebelset.co.uk/the-band/)

4. Mr Bligh – Is this England?

Without doubt the reggae album of the year and lyrically the only thing too come close to summing up the times we live in.

Anyone who knows anything about Mr Bligh will recognise some of these tunes from his former band days with the Darling Reds. However, following a move to Bristol and then back to his native London these tracks are fresher than ever before.

Bligh kicks things off with something he has always had in his locker, an infectious riff. Lit Wayside's guitars transport you from his indie past to his reggae present via a more up tempo Police In Helicopter. FU2 demonstrates a love of Prince Far I with its slower refrain and biting lyrical content whilst Little Friend is a rockier interpretation of one Bligh's heroes Matisyahu.

Is This England? encapsulates the mood of England more than any other realises in 2011 by some distance. The disdain of greed and the lost youth of urban Britain have been dominating news stations all year from largely conservative perspectives. Bligh cuts through the diatribe with sharp insights and abstains from clichés proving him to be a real force on the British Music Scene.

3. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones

Turner's solo career has always been an enigma. Debut “Sleep Is For The Weak” was littered with songs any outsider could cling to, yet resulted in no real success. The single “Photosynthesis” from the follow up “Love Song & Ire” is a call to arms that should have indie discos jumping through the ceilings every Saturday night… Alas, BBC6, XFM and late night Radio One didn’t really pick up on Frank's genius until his 3rd album and only now is he a mainstay of their playlists.

Lead of single 'Peggy Sang The Blues' from EKMB is by no means his best work but the daytime Plays on XFM will win Frank a new set of fans. Why? Well, for starters, it’s a song about his Nan and how if he beat her at cards she would give him whiskey to put him off his stride. More importantly, it displays everything that is great about him. When Turner steps up to the mic he sounds like he is laying down his life. The ever-increasing passion in this crescendo chasing tune should have anyone saying, post-dubstep, “its time I re-evaluated my life”.

As with every Turner album, there is always one song which is head and shoulders above the rest. “I Still Believe” is that song here. It’s a simple rock-n-roll song about, well, rock-n-roll. If you’re in band and not striving to make songs like this, then you should do us all a favour and admit you’re boring and go play golf instead.

The final track “Glory Hallejuah” is an ingot of comedy gold. The jovial chorus 'There Is No God' is expertly delivered and doesn’t fail to raise a wry smile every time. As always with Turner there’s often more to his songs than first meet the eye. This is not just an atheist’s bash at religion, it is desperate plee for mankind to embrace life as it comes. By some miracle, he has managed to cram Orwell's early novel 'Clergyman's Daughter' into 4minutes 35secs of folky rock-n-roll and remind everyone that life is short, so live it now!

“Redemption” sees Turner in a brutally introspective mood as he examines the nature of his song-writing ability. This is without doubt the bravest thing he has ever written. Musically it’s not pushing boundaries for him, but to dig into the colon of your soul like this, can only be admired.

Those who are new to Turner will be hooked for life after this helping. It is the ultimate ‘way in’ for anyone wondering 'who is frank tuner' (with Wembley Arena sold out, that’s probably a lot). Catchy folk tales, rock-n-roll belters and poignant lyrics, this album has it all for anyone steeped in a sense of English pride.

Tom Williams & The Boat – Too Slow

So, we've just had Frank Turner's pretty euphoric folk album at number 3, meaning more of the same for number 2? Not on your life. Welcome to the moody world of Tom Williams & The Boat.

Williams, a self-confessed Radiohead fanatic, adopts similar song-writing traits with his character-based songs, presenting to his listeners: society's outcasts, and social commentary from a twisted point of view. To get in the mood for this dose of genius, listen to Radiohead's “No Surprises” and “Optimist” and you will begin the journey down to Williams' underworld.

Rather than kick things of with a staple live 3-chord effort as so many do these days, Williams launches off with the brilliant character-based “24”. The opening line “It's just I can't imagine / A woman being true / They say I find it so insulting / Something’s wrong with you” is the lyrical equivalent of a Tarantino movie, beginning at the end point for the character. Before he descends into this bitter attitude, we see the amusing attempt at ambiguity when applying to an online dating website: “I used to have short back and sides / But now I have long hair with a fringe like everybody else”. Williams' character rejects the social contact a date might bring and favours his N64 instead. This begins the journey to the bitter hate we have already witnessed in the opening line.

The next track “Concrete” follows the same character, focusing on his defiant stand to become a social recluse. His lifeline to socialising emerges from his small-town-mentality father who “is this town through and through / Old school 50 something boring racist / And he's mates are too”. Via his dad's lack of mental ambition, we can see the chinks of light in our flawed anti-hero who is something akin to “This Is England”'s Shaun and “Submarine”'s Lloyd Tate.

“Wouldn't Women Be Sweet” deals with yet more enmity towards past girlfriends but here we have a sublime sense of humour Morrissey would be proud of. Sorry? What’s that? You think no one is funnier lyrically than Morrissey? Well I present you with Exhibit A: “Wouldn't women be sweet / If they could die a broken heart”. And Exhibit B: “I met you in bar in 2003 / We started going out immediately / I thought it would be fun / I thought it would be easy / didnt realise you were a maniac”.

To conclude, amid the emotional mess of the album are melodies so uplifting the lyrics pale into insignificance. Having seen the band live a number of times, TT can confirm audiences do exactly this. This sprightly little number will have you bopping and jigging along to your heart’s content, make no mistakes about it.

1.   The Crookes – Chasing After Ghosts

Well, well, well… we are finally there. The number one album of 2011 goes to The Crookes' “Chasing After Ghosts”. The young lads from Sheffield have delivered a master-class in pop music with their follow up to 2010's EP “Dreams Of Another Day”.

Often new bands come out of the traps with raw polemical albums like The Libertines 'Up The Bracket' and Arctic Monkeys 'Whatever People Say I Am...'. However, 'Chasing After Ghosts' is a debut of maturity and pop classicism way beyond its years and more akin to the expressive nature of The Cure's 'The Head On The Door' or The Smiths' 'Queen Is Dead'.

The Smiths in particular are key to The Crookes' sound. The opening four tracks are all tinged with Johnny Marr guitar-parts and Morrissey's lyrical delivery. “Godless Girl” launches the album into a catchy realm it rarely leaves via a punkier Billy Fury vibe. “Chorus Of Fools” combines everything that has been great about Sheffield music in recent years. It has the melodic 50s guitars of Richard Hawley and poignant observations of love and friendship Alex Turner can only reminisce about these days.

Standing out like Danny Dyer in a period drama is “Bloodshot Days”. So long as there is life in TT, we will long for songs like this to be Number 1. It is dark in its content, describing a girl who takes to the street at night, but the pop sensibilities of this song are so captivating you will be hard pressed not to rip your diaphragm in two whilst wailing this into a full-length mirror.

“Chasing After Ghosts” has absolutely everything. It has those anthems which leaves teenage boys obsessing over every lyric, guitar part and fashion choice the band make until their first girlfriend tells them otherwise. Meanwhile, the slower paced tracks 'Youth' and 'Laundry Murder' will be on constant repeat for those who are beset by unrequited love.