Pagan Wanderer Lu - The Independent Scrutineer

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 9 / 12 / 2007

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Review

I once saw a musician (of sorts) who played with a guitar and a tape deck and a hand held fan, rather than a band. I couldn’t help but think, as he was explaining how the song was meant to start (the tape deck didn’t work), "Maybe the reason you’re doing this is not because you don’t want a band. It’s because you’re too much of a pretentious twat." When I put Pagan Wandered Lu on and ‘The Memorial Hall’, the first track on his new EP 'The Independent Scrutineer' opened, I was very worried that I was going to think the same thing…but then it kicked in and it was all okay. The guitar work and vocals sound a cross between ropey and raw, but the quality of the songs shines throughout. It is clear that Pagan Wanderer Lu has a ton of original ideas and has managed to capture many of them on this release. It has a great up-beat and cheery, catchy sound, even when he’s talking about being broke and the constant threat of terrorism. I absolutely love ‘Our Hospital Sucks’. It is a politely angry song about, yep, a new hospital and merges keyboards, synths and buzzing guitar noises with really literal lyrics that are done in a really English way with wit, sarcasm and gritty honesty. The EP is also very real, with Pagan Wanderer Lu providing excellent social commentary on life in Britain in the 21st century. This is a thoroughly enjoyable record to listen to and I hope to hear more from Pagan Wanderer Lu in the future.

Track Listing:-

1 The Memorial Hall
2 Repetition 2
3 Our New Hospital Sucks
4 Repetition 1
5 ----
6 Knight -> King 4