Paul Handyside - Wayward Son

Looking at the images of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne musician Paul Handyside on the cover of his second solo CD, ‘Wayward Son’, it would appear that time has been standing still for him. He looks just as young and fit as he did back in the early 80's when he was one of the lead singers in a band named Hurrah! And he has lost none of those brooding good looks. The music Handyside makes however has changed greatly from those days… If this writer was asked to make a list of the songs that had meant the most to him over the last fifty years (a long list admittedly), the ones that I felt I simply couldn’t live without, then three places would immediately be taken by songs recorded by Hurrah! Not bad for an indie band who started life out on the Kitchenware label and who only released two studio albums during its lifetime. Hurrah! captured the sound of the Byrds and their ilk, but unlike so many other bands at that time who also looked back to 60's jangle for inspiration Hurrah! added a punky edge, a touch of Northern Soul even, and something else that still remains a mystery to create a sound all of their own. They were unique. Listening to Hurrah! was like hearing the intro to the Undertones' ‘Teenage Kicks’ on repeat. You just felt good to be alive. It was impossible not to be affected by their songs. Paul Handyside didn’t write all three of my favourite Hurrah! songs. He wrote ‘Gloria’ which actually made the indie charts at the time of release, and for that one song alone his place in the annals of pop music should be assured. David ‘Taffy’ Hughes wrote the other Hurrah! songs which would make my list. Both ‘This Boy’ (hidden away on a b-side!) and ‘If Love Could Kill’ were classic pop songs, sadly forgotten in the mists of time. Hurrah! should have been massive and that’s a fact. After Hurrah! spilt in the early 90's Handyside released two albums under the Bronze name, before ‘Future’s Dream’ was issued in 2007 as Handyside’s first solo album. All those albums had their moments, but like Hurrah's releases it seemed that Handyside was always one step behind actually breaking through to a wide audience. So here we are, seven years later and Handyside finally delivers his second solo collection; while Handyside has well and truly left the sound of Hurrah! in the past (and there really was no need to as their recordings, now some thirty years old, sound as fresh and relevant as they always did) he is still creating a sound of his own. ‘Wayward Son’ has been labeled as Americana by many who have heard it. I can’t argue with that. There are washes of that genre splattered throughout the whole album, but Handyside still laces his music with that magic something to make the sounds he produces stand out and demand your attention. Why this so obviously talented musician isn’t better known is a mystery. Opener ‘Glory Bound’ is a perfect example of how Handyside’s music has matured through the years; the song instantly brings to mind the work of Phil Ochs and thoughts of Bruce Springsteen even pass through. The opening shot of “We are marching into battle to the beating of the drum/For the trigger happy generals ‘til their dirty work is done,” accompanied just by acoustic guitar grabs your attention. The song has a nostalgic feel about it. The sympathetic production from Rob Tickell almost places the listener in the front line of a war long since won, but it’s still relevant today. ‘Carnival Girl’ leans towards some of Richard Hawley’s finest moments, a waltz which shows that Handyside has lost none of his talent for writing sharp, flowing lyrics detailing the small everyday feelings we all experience but can’t articulate as well as Handyside can. It’s another song that displays a deeper, darker side to Handyside’s music than we saw in his Hurrah! days. ‘He Loves Her Now’ is the first of the lighter songs on ‘Wayward Son’. A more upbeat tune than the previous two songs it also features chiming guitars and reminds us just how expressive Handyside can be vocally. The song has one of those choruses that it’s impossible to forget once heard and the playing of all concerned (Tickell plays various guitars and electric piano throughout the album while David Porthouse who handles the drums also contributes bass and banjo on some tracks) is excellent. As good as the opening two songs are it’s ‘He Loves Her Now’, only the third track on the album, where it really all comes together and you realise just how much we’ve missed Handyside. ‘Precious and Rare’ is a tender ballad, Handyside turning in a remarkable vocal performance, possibly the best on this album, on a song that’s so fragile you feel that with the singer pouring everything he has into each and every word he’s going to crack at any moment. With one of the prettiest melodies Handyside has ever written, it’s a performance that leaves you breathless. Handyside returns to a military theme for ‘When the Good Time Roll Again’, another irresistible melody with a sing-a-long chorus in spite of some of the most disturbing lyrics on the album. “And my best friend is coughing up lungs but he says he is soon to be free” and “now a blindfold and last cigarette and a bullet await at first light” might not read like they come from a song that is impossible not to join in with but they do. As ‘Wayward Son’ unfolds. it’s clear that while Handyside covers a lot of musical ground and many bases over the course of the eleven songs this is really an album of folk songs. In the same way that the Billy Braggs of the music world are labelled as folk singers Handyside, by delivering a set of topical and love songs that will touch the heart and soul of the everyman, deserves to reach the same audience. ‘Wayward Son’ is an album that Paul Handyside has poured his heart and soul into. That much is obvious. Give it a listen, especially if he’s still unknown to you and you appreciate songs of substance. It’s a rewarding experience.

Track Listing:-

1 Glory Bound
2 Carnival Girl
3 He Loves Her Now
4 Precious and Rare
5 When the Good Times Roll Again
6 Man Overboard
7 Love Lies Elsewhere
8 Still Time Away
9 Passing Through
10 Rose of the Street
11 Wayward Son