Vinny Peculiar - Goodbye My Angry Friend

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 25 / 11 / 2007

---

Review

‘Goodbye My Angry Friend’ is Vinny Peculiar's seventh studio album and sees Craig Gannon, the Smiths’ one time additional guitarist from their ‘The Queen Is Dead’ era, leave Vinny’s band to be replaced by Bonehead from the original line-up of Oasis. I have to say I preferred Vinny’s last album, ‘The Rise and Fall of Vinny Peculiar’, but ‘Goodbye My Angry Friend’ is nevertheless a grower of a record. Vinny still has that other Smiths member Mike Joyce in the band who gives the album a powerful push from behind his drum kit. The album opens with ‘Vinny Peculiar is Dead’, which has classic rock written all over it and sounds like an acoustic T Rex number with big Marc Bolan-style riffs. Very well thought out and structured, it is a very clever song indeed. ‘Kiss Me (I'm a Social Worker)’ has a glam rock feel with a vocal from Vinny as rich as one by Nick Cave and which is sung in a spoken word way with the rest of the band providing backing vocals on the chorus. ‘The Solo’ is a big time 70’s classic rock number, while ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ is piano based with a naked-sounding vocal from Vinny that sounds very vulnerable and recalls Darren Hayman from Hefner. ‘Too Late’ is sung in a lonesome deep way. Backed by jangly guitars, Vinny sounds on it like Lee Hazlewood. ‘Happiest Man in the World’ is another very sad track. Vinny comes over on it sounding like Jamie Holman from Tompaulin, whom he produced. There is also an element of moody Leonard Cohen to it until it gets a reggae uplift and then goes on a magical mystery tour of musical styles which benefit both the song and the album. ‘Song for the Dead’ is as mournful and as deep as a Willard Grant Conspiracy or Nick Cave track. ‘Lazy Bohemians’ sounds like a big 1970’s pop song, while on ‘Lost for Words’ Vinny comes over like a lazy Lou Reed assisted by slow jazzy beats. ‘Batman’ is a loud,in-your-face number, a song about wanting to be a superhero. The title track ends the album and is a short instrumental piece.

Track Listing:-

1 Vinny Peculiar Is Dead
2 Kiss Me I'm a Social Worker
3 Seasonal Affective Disorder
4 Too Late
5 The Happiest Man in the World
6 Song for the Dead
7 Lazy Bohemians
8 Lost for Words
9 Batman
10 Goodbye My Angry Friend

Band Links:-

http://vinnypeculiar.com
https://www.facebook.com/vinnypeculiar
https://twitter.com/vinnypeculiar
https://soundcloud.com/vinnypeculiar
https://www.youtube.com/user/arthurcra

Label Links:-

http://www.pronoia-records.com/PR/Cont

Have a Listen:-