England - Full Moon 147 - 09/15/08
The Vichy Government
White Elephant
Filthy Little Angels
Jamie Manners and Andrew Chilton form the dynamic electro-duo Vichy Government. Their bleak, none more black outlook might put some off but their new album has a savage with to it.
"Death Of A Mummy's Boy" painstakingly details a suicide and does't appear to have any empathy for it subject. "I'm You Pimp" is rather self-explanatory and Manners embodies the narrator with his usual distanced approach. The beats are subdued as the tale unfolds. "Abusive Childhood Narrative" blithely satirizes the need to read about other people's bad childhoods. "All I got for Christmas was a black banana/Next to mine Dave Pelzer's youth was Club Tropicana" he deadpans, before making the narrator admit he made it all up. It's as bleak as the album gets which is very. "My Mail-Order Bride" gets under the skin of a real work of art that's abusive to the mail order bride in question. The duo keeps the music slow and strange. Mick Jagger's solo number "Memo From Turner" gets revisited in a unique fashion. It's not the most accessible album, but it's got a strong appeal nonetheless.
Copyright © 2008 Anna Maria Stjärnell
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