Skinny Lister - The Devil, The Heart & The Fight
Once upon a time, Joe Strummer joined The Pogues as touring guitarist and occasional vocalist. It may be a fanciful to suggest that Skinny Lister’s third album may go some way to showing what might have happened had Strummer explored folk further but it’s not that outlandish an idea. That’s not to say The Devil, The Heart & The Fight sounds much like The Pogues or The Clash. What The Pogues and The Clash did was to take their influences and infuse them with a new fire and energy. The former did it with Celtic music whilst the latter did it with rock ‘n’ roll and reggae. Skinny Lister take that template and apply it to English folk and Americana.
The opening duo of Wanted and Geordie Lad are joyous, upbeat rockers. Tragedy In A Minor adds Dick Dale style surf guitar the rollicking folk to great effect. Injuries and Beat It From The Chest suggest a more compact and nimbler Bellowhead. It’s not all roistering punky folk. Taking things down a gear or two, Devil In Me and Reunion are both stunning, bringing to mind The Beautiful South playing contemporary Americana.
This is a varied and delightfully playful album that is well worth a listen.
9/10
