A new album, from a new Muddy Summers line up, ready for a new festival season.
“We are getting a new musical project together called Muddy Summers and the Dirty Field Whores”, Gail told me proudly, back in 2011.
Then pfft – just like that, we are getting ready for the launch of their seventh album. Where the hell did those fourteen years go?
Gail Something Else has her own stage/tea tent that she takes to other people’s festivals, she puts on her own festivals, has put out zines, put out music by other bands on the festivals scene, she records podcasts, creates amazing art and when she has a bit of spare time, she gigs and records with Muddy Summers and the Dirty Field Whores. And saves badgers and – well, the list goes on.
Before we go any further, I hasten to add that Muddy Summers is not just Gail. The festival scene is full of wonderfully talented and creative people. No doubt Gail’s activities have helped her find the other like-minded souls that make up this amazing band.
The band ooze punk attitude and anarchist principles. Which is odd, because there is nothing remotely punk about their sound. Well, except the lyrics. Perhaps.
Now we have established what they don’t sound like, establishing what they do sound like – in terms of genre pigeonholes – is a bit more complicated. We have Miles Cudby and Phil Rainey providing the rhythm section on drums and bass respectively. Aly Rainey on fiddle, Viv Krishan is the acoustic ‘axe’ man. Gail lays down the vocals, with various erstwhile band members popping in to lay down some backing vocals. Throw in some piano, brass and wind and you have… well, Muddy Summers and the Dirty Field Whores.
Yes, that’s right, fiddle, piano and brass on one record. And it works. We get a gloriously melodic vibe that puts a spring in your step. The cheery vibe is matched by Gail’s velvety vocals, which covertly deliver a deeper message, like a valentines card from Class War.
The opening track ‘Doombox’ is about getting on with life, putting one foot in front of the other. ‘Get in the Bin’ starts getting a bit deeper, reflecting on disposable consumerism, post truth media and the erosion of critical thinking. Other songs touch on surviving domestic violence, climate change, the lack of respect for our environment and the decline of human rights.
Trump’s newly-free buddy, Andrew Tate, is singled out for his toxic masculinity, human trafficking and – well all the other shit he gets up to – in ‘Tateworm’.
Although it’s not all negative, ‘Warriors’ reflects on the fact that there are some of us out there still joining arms and fighting the good fight.
The album ends with ‘If I Can’t Dance’ which expands on the phrase often misquoted in Emma Goldman’s autobiography, ‘Living My Life’. “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Gail takes ownership of the words and makes them her own, while the band, unsurprisingly, give us something to dance to.
The album reflects on some of the ills of the world, expresses frustration, but also screams out “up with this, we will not put”. It is a call to arms with a jolly uplifting soundtrack. Being angry has not been this much fun, and so disarmingly dangerous, since the demise of Chumawamba (unless, of course, you count the other six Muddy Summers albums).
Stream it here —