They Walk Among Us - Monkey in a Chicken Pen
by John Clarkson
published: 27 / 7 / 2010
Label:
Richard Proctor Music
Format: CD
intro
Appealing third album from surreal-humoured Cardiff-based guitar rock group, They Walk Among Us
They Walk Among Us are a guitar rock group from Cardiff. Centred around vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and producer Richard Proctor, the band, which has switched over the last couple of years from being a five-piece to a three-piece, also currently consists of Dave Beasley on bass and Rob Young on drums. The veterans of a three month tour in America and dates in the United Kingdom with the Alabama 3,they have released two previous albums, ‘Mathematics, Art in Progress’(2006) and ‘Champagne Tastes, Lemonade Pockets’(2007). The ten songs on ‘Monkey in a Chicken Pen’, their latest album, which has been released like its predecessor on Proctor’s own Richard Proctor Music, consists mainly of songs with a muscular, anthemic sound. Proctor’s lyrics tell largely of the sex wars and boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-dumped dramas. They, however, often have an underlying dark humour and offbeat surreality and these and the instrumentation, which is kept just diverse enough to stop it from ever becoming formulaic, keep the album appealing. “I win/You lose/I push/You pull,” snaps Proctor against a backdrop of stop-start, slinky-sounding rock beats on the opening song, ‘I Push You Pull’. ‘Hey Julie’ has much of the raucousness and thunder of the earlier tracks, but puts an unusual and quirky twist on the issue of stalking(“Hey Julie/please stop stalking me/If you want to know what you mean to me/I stopped to ask you the time one time/I can’t even remember giving you my telephone number”). ‘Ex Wife’ is a blues spoof (“My ex wife fucks with my mind/My ex wife killed my dog”), while ‘Pendulum’ adds a chiming pedal steel guitar to the mix, and, partially acoustic-based, is more balladic than the other offerings on the album. ‘Stones’, the final track, breaks with the three or four minute traditions of the other songs on the record, and, building over the course of six minutes from slow, rumbling beginnings, finishes in a final, thunderous rushing roar of sound. ‘Monkey in a Chicken Pen’ is a good, rather than an exceptional album, but, versatile, funny and never bland, remains throughout both constantly fulfilling and satisfying.
Track Listing:-
1 I Push You Pull2 Full Stop
3 Hate Mail
4 What If
5 Sinner
6 My Name Is God
7 Hey Julie
8 Ex Wife
9 Pendulum
10 Stones
most viewed articles
current edition
The Church - Interview with Steve KilbeySimon Heavisides - Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.
Secret Shine - Interview
Vetchinsky Settings - Interview
Repomen - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Jack Roscoe - Interview
Sami Sumner - Interview
Near Jazz Experience - Interview
Flaming Stars - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Bullets for BreadIan Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction
Inutili - A Love Supreme
Kula Shaker - Natural Magick
Smalltown Tigers - Crush On You
Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Back in Time
David Cross Band - Ice Blue Silver Sky
My Life Story - Loving You is Killing Me
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Ty Segall - Three Bells
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart