The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing – Double Negative
I know my fair share of people who will instantly shit on bands with a gimmick. It’s a fair comment when there are many bands who will just tack on a random image in the hope of standing out. There is so much half arsed garbage out there, it’s a shame that the genuinely great bands with a sense of flair will get lumped in with them, So thank the proverbial gods of rock for bands like The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, who I will vouch for personally as I’ve seen them live a few times over the years, and they always put on a great show.
As much as they don’t like to admit it these days, they are best described to the layman as Steam-Punk Rock. Evolving from being an all out fun take on the struggles of Victorian era life in “Now That’s What I Call Steampunk Vol.1” (later renamed “The Steampunk Album That Cannot Be Named For Legal Reasons after a cease-and-desist warning from EMI”) to their latest album “Double Negative” where they seem have embraced a nastier and slightly more sarcastic tone. It’s a good choice on their part I must say, though it’s still an album packed with cheek at the expense of the horrific, I’m finding in a lot places where the charm in their writing is shines through in different ways.
To say we have a solely punk album here would be doing it a disservice, as a person who primarily listens to metal I’m hearing a lot that I can relate to. Whether it’s the 80’s thrashtastic “God is in the Bottom line” or “Hidden” that gave me some serious Therapy? grunge/rock vibes. There are some great sections could find their way into other genres which is sign of The Men’s crossover appeal. My personal favourite is “Occam’s Razor” which on one hand is about the absurd conspiracy theories surrounding the ripper murders, but on the other could be taken as a stab at the current fake news epidemic. It is clear that most of the songs here could be related to modern day issues if you want to read that deep between the lines.
Saying that, despite the few political conversations being had, this album doesn’t feel like you’re being forced to take them on at face value. It’s not Rage against the Machine we’re listening to so don’t be put off by the political talk. The Victorian back drop serves as a shield from that, and having stand up comedians in their ranks there is always a cheeky nudge behind every savage turn. But this isn’t a comedy album, there are some very serious songs on here, and it’s all the better for it. It’s fun in all the right places and thought provoking in others. Hearing The Men embrace the darker tones is a good thing in my opinion because they clearly do it very well. They juggle the fine line of satire in music extremely well and in the process have produced a fine album that would fit well in most collections.
Double Negative can be summed up as a feel good and fun album that has songs about Babies being thrown in rivers, Radiation poisoning, and people starving to death.
I’m sure if that makes sense then you’ll enjoy this very much.
Score: 8/10
The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing are:
Andrew O’neill: Guitars, Vocals
Gerhard ‘Andy’ Heintz: Vocals
Marc Burrows: Bass, Vocals
Jez Miller: Drums
The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing on tour:
MON 12 MAR – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
TUE 13 MAR – Newcastle, Trillians
WED 14 MAR – Edinburgh, Bannermans
THU 15 MAR – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon
SAT 17 MAR – York, Fulford Arms
SUN 18 MAR – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
MON 19 MAR – Cardiff, Globe
TUE 20 MAR – Chester, The Live Rooms
WED 21 MAR – Leicester, The Shed
THU 22 MAR – Exeter, The Cavern
FRI 23 MAR – London, The Dome
SAT 24 MAR – Southampton, Joiners
SUN 25 MAR – Bristol, The Exchange
TUE 17 JUL – Detroit US, Motor City Steamcon
The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing online:
http://www.blamedfornothing.com/
https://www.facebook.com/blamedfornothing
https://twitter.com/blamed4nothing
https://blamedfornothing.bandcamp.com
