Levellers - Letters from the Underground

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 9 / 9 / 2008

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Review

'Letters from the Underground' is the first album for folk rock heroes, the Levellers, on their own On the Fiddle Recordings. Some bands that have been around for 20 years playing this tempo of music would have calmed down a bit, maybe worked in some more acoustic numbers and donned more knitwear – they do play folk music after all. The Levellers have, however, lost absolutely none of their raw hippy-fuelled edge as the years have fallen away. Mark Chadwick and his bunch of merry men are back with a vengeance ready to get you both up and dancing and saying a big "fuck you" to "the man." On opening track 'The Cholera Well', the band quickly punch their mark and show the energy that has kept them going all these years. ‘Death Loves Youth’ and ‘Burn America Burn’ are, like the opening track, both very politically charged and with these tracks it becomes apparent why the band still matter and are an influence to many. While many of their early fans I’m sure have now left college or university and settled into a more steady way of living maybe involving ties and fancy cars, the Levellers, completed by Simon Friend (guitar & many other things), Jeremy Cunningham (bass guitar, vocals), Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (fiddle) and Matt Savage (keyboards, backing vocals), have not lost any of their early values. I am sure that there are plenty of their fans who have also kept the same values and not caved into a more lateral way of living and thinking. I remember hearing the Levellers when I was around 12 or 13, just when music was becoming something more than just what was on the radio or ‘Top of the Pops’, and something within their music really reached out to me. They weren’t like a lot of other bands I had heard. The combination of folk and their earthy and inspiring demeanour just fascinated me. They were one of the first bands that I had heard singing about the state of the world. They have not lost any of their impact and in modern society seem just as relevant if not more so. The best thing about them, however that is, while they do provide a political awareness their songs, like 'Heart of the Country' and 'A Life Less Ordinary',are also highly enjoyable and uplifting. If there is ever going to be a revolution I hope these guys make the soundtrack.

Track Listing:-

1 The Cholera Well
2 Death Loves Youth
3 Eyes Wide
4 Before The End
5 Burn America Burn
6 Heart Of The Country
7 Behold A Pale Rider
8 A Life Less Ordinary
9 Accidental Anarchist
10 Duty
11 Fight Or Flight
12 The Everyday
13 TV Suicides
14 On The Beach
15 Away Boys
16 15 Years
17 Chemically Free
18 Hope St.
19 Just The One
20 The Boatman
21 Alive
22 Coming Up
23 Song of a Baker
24 The Cholera Well (Single Edit)
25 A Life Less Ordinary (Single Edit)
26 Before The End (Single Edit)
27 Burn America Burn (Radio Edit)
28 Vox Pops (Eyes Wide)

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/levellersoffi
http://www.levellers.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Level
https://twitter.com/the_levellers