Great Crusades - Keep Them Entertained
by Helen Tipping
published: 28 / 2 / 2009

Label:
Glitterhouse Records
Format: CD
intro
Hit and miss sixth album from manic Chicago-based band the Great Crusades, who when theyt stick to their rockabilly and blues roots continue to excel
More manic rockabilly from the Great Crusades. They are still telling their saturnine tales from the wrong sides of the tracks, although are a bit more upbeat musically on 'Keep Them Entertained',their sixth album, than on some of their previous releases. There’s a strange metal influence in the guitar on 'Broken Umbrella' that doesn’t do it for me and the same with 'Sex Sells', but when they revert to their Rockabilly roots on 'Christina Flatbush' and 'On A Fast Moving Train', you can hear the spectre of the Birthday Party hovering behind them. 'Paradise' draws on teen courting songs of the 50s, but manages to avoid the irony of it being sung by an older man by setting it in the past. Title track 'Keep Them Entertained' and 'Demolishing a Bottle of Wine' are very much blues tracks. This album draws on a lot of different influences which don't always work, but the rockabilly and blues tracks are where the Great Crusades really excel.
Track Listing:-
1 Christina Flatbush2 Broken Umbrella
3 On a Fast Moving Train
4 Forgiven for an Hour or Two
5 Paradise (At The Petite Four)
6 Sex Sells (So I'll See You in Hell)
7 Keep Them Entertained
8 I Don't Remember
9 Demolishin a Bottle of Wine
10 Why'd You Have to Do This to Me?
11 The Bucket of Blood
12 The Moon Cried Don't Do It
Label Links:-
http://label.glitterhouse.com/https://www.facebook.com/GlitterhouseRecords
https://twitter.com/glitterhouserec
https://www.youtube.com/user/GlitterhouseTV
reviews |
Keep Them Entertained (2008) |
![]() |
Angry and energetic sixth album from Chicago-based band, the Great Crusades |
Welcome To The Hiawatha Inn (2004) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Sukie Smith - Interview
Clive Langer - Interview
Kim Wilde - Photoscapes
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
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