From Another Place

On of the bands that I got into whilst I was writing songs was "Tricks Upon Travellers" an English band from Brighton with Punk-Funk routes who releases "From Another Place" amongst several other great albums before they split up. I was in contact for a while with one of the band members a fantastically nice bloke called "Dick Langford" who actually recorded a couple of my songs, and it's he, who indirectly turned me into an article writer as opposed to a song writer.

The album starts with the brilliant "The sound of Sirens" which is relaxed and catchy and goes a long way to showing why Tricks Upon Travellers were once tipped as one of the biggest British bands out there, the clever lyrics that describe every day society are easy to relate to and yet delivered with such honesty that they seem more like a social commentary than a song. The introduction to "From Another Place" is simple wonderful and you get the feeling other albums fail to so bluntly honest as this one does. In fact the lyrics are truly fun to listen to and the music is relaxing but catchy, a fantastic start to one of the best unknown albums in recent memory.

"Knocker Boys" follows up, a track this is also (in a different form) on "Where the Skeletons Dance" is another social commentary song, this time with a bit of Euro Scepticism feel to it all. A catchy toe tapper that gets you after the opening, in fact the vocals hit you tap your toe in a style you'll never regret. To be honest, the "Where the Skeletons Dance" version is slightly better, but this will have your feet bouncing as Dick talks you over what is pretty much the street trader industry trade.

For "Civilisation" a new vocalist picks up where Langford left it and the female in charge really takes control of the song in a way that makes you wonder why she didn't do more with the band. The lady, (who I'm assuming is Sam Dixon-Szul) controls the song with an unenviable, yet brilliant display which really should have marked her out as the next Tina turner able to go from high to low with ease and fast to slow.

"Despots Dead" is another of the albums crackingly great songs, a relaxed tempo song which strikes it's anti-racism points with slow and targeted lyrics, a fantastic example of how words can relate so much more than they might do on first listen. The music seems to in places control the song a little bit too much and slows down what would have been an excellently thrilling track (the track in a different form is also on "Where the Skeletons Dance" and lacks some of the slowness that desecrates this version slightly).

"Third Way" is nothing short of a protest song against the major two parties in Britain done in such a clever and wonderful way. The punk elements dominate the lyrics display with a lot more anger and this goes from toe tapping to head movement, in what can only be described as one of the bands very best tracks. In fact if you fee political this may well be the prime song for you as they point out how the political parties are nothing more than a sham and despite their promises the people making them are verbal crooks. It really is one of the best political songs out there.

A more relaxed start to "Million Miles" may confuse you into not thinking this too will be political but that's exactly what it is, with the feeling that wars aren't fought on foreign lands but are fought between our views, if we want (the public) want out the government may force it. Though not the best song on the album it's still oddly catchy and, as is always the case on the album it's well though out and musically tight.

"Ivy" is one of the more poignant songs on the album and doesn't target politics at all, seems more an outside story on a relationship of a woman who is fed up of the treatment of the "old" style male in the world. A fantastic song that had it not been so wonderfully far left would almost certainly have received air time as it's tight, clever and has it's catchy parts. In fact one of the albums completely wondrous tracks and up there with "Sounds of Sirens" and "Third Way" as amongst the best on the album.

"Blood against The Wall" is given a feminine vocal for the first time sine "Civilisation" and sadly this time it seems to fall just a little short of what the album has achieved so far. In fact it depends more on the music than the lyrics and vocals, which sadly means it doesn't quite live up to the styling of the past few tracks. Although a very good track the female vocal just sadly feels out of place and you can't help but feel had it been Dick's voice it would have been a slightly better track.

"Porton Down" I swear if you hear a better song than this in the next 12 months you've heard perfection. Porton down sums up not only punk music, but exactly what music it's self is about, catchy, rhythmic and clever. Dick's again back in charge of the vocals as he acts the role of a young man as a soldier at the "Porton Down" facility in Britain (not something I'm able to comment on). The song is touchingly emotional, cleverly original and wonderfully unique in the verses but nothing short of catchy in the chorus. This is simple political music at it's very best. Worth hunting down if you are some how unwilling to listen to buy the album.

"Cadavers Burning" sadly will never match the perfection of the previous track, but doesn't try as it slows the tempo down and tries to deliver a much more straight up political point. Sadly coming after "Porton down" means this, which is a very decent track, will be impossible to regard on it's own, it's an anti-climax coming after one of, if not the, best song on the album. A solid track that sounds like a typical "ending track" should have perhaps been allowed another song between it's self and "Porton Down"

"And Johnny says" is a clever but overly long ending to the album, it tries to (and in places succeeds) in using tempo to keep the listener interested but in times I feels just a little overly long. The changes in tempo, which at times are dramatic and hugely fun to listen to, but at over 10 minutes (including a hidden track that's merely dull), they aren't quite good enough to made you want to listen right through.

The band are catchy and relaxed, angsty but not aggressive and that's what gives them their great sound. The fact they mix folk and punk so well is another great feature and although "Mad Fiddler" (Mark Knight) isn't incredibly prominent in this album (as he is in "Where the Skeletons Dance") it's a wonderful insight into the styling's at one of the forgotten brands of Britain. If you like Punk and you like Folk this is a prime album for yourself though it may not be the easiest one to find it will be findable somewhere and you will not regret getting your mitts on an album many others have sadly missed out on.