On The Fiddle Recordings (label)
12 September 2014 (released)
12 September 2014
Never a great favourite of the critics, Levellers were the poster boys for early 90s students who liked their political anger mixed with a bit of dance rock. They were a travellers' band, but for the future Glastonbury Middle-Classes that now dominate the once great music festival. Critics even sniffed at their earthy - men of the people - image, while pointing out their posh Brighton lifestyle. Naming yourself after a bunch of Oliver Cromwell's followers smacks of both good education but also wanting to appeal to those with a grudge. In the early 90s there were plenty of those, in the post Poll Tax and Miners' Strike era, Levellers tapped into the mood brilliantly; even recording a song - The Battle of Beanfield - about a clash between police and travellers at Stonehenge.
25 years on from their debut album, it is time for a look back at their career - and put simply - Levellers were great fun. Mark Chadwick's raw vocal was easy to singalong to - while the band's Celtic lilt wore a broad smile. They were at their best letting their hair down and having hoe down, with the likes of Fifteen Years' tale of drunken loss, What A Beautiful Day and Dog Train all impossible not to tap along to. Just The One is hardly a song at all but a laugh (especially at a festival with a beer aloft) - and the more recent The Cholera Well shows they could still find a great tune and mix it with narky lyrics about Afghanistan and the Soviet Union later in their career.
Where the band go wrong is when they try and be clever. This Garden hints at musical experimentation but doesn't catch light. When they slow it down, it sometimes works, such as on Julie and the wonderful anthemic Carry Me. Included here are some re-workings of hits with guest artists. Billy Bragg, Bellowhead, Frank Turner and strangely Imelda May all appear. There is also an extensive DVD with the two CD Greatest Hits, making this a sure fire hit with fans. And right now nineties nostalgia is where it's at. A tour in the autumn therefore is likely to be a great success.
