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The Broken Family Band
Brighton, The Hanbury
Article written by
Jon V - May 18, 2009
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The Broken Family Band
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Hmm. The times they are a changin’. At least as far as The Broken Family Band are concerned. New album, ‘Please & Thank You’ picks up where ‘Hello Love’ left off, sacrificing ‘twang’ for testosterone as the Cambridge four-piece layer an ever more muscular rock dimension over their wry, wistful and often hilariously misanthropic Anglo-Americana. Having fallen heavily for their early hillbilly charm, I have a creeping appreciation of how the beard and sandals brigade felt at Newport in ‘65 when Dylan plugged in and ‘rocked out’. So there’s an element of not quite knowing ‘which’ Broken Family Band is going to turn up ahead of tonight’s performance at the ‘intimate’ (150 capacity) Hanbury.
One thing is clear immediately: the band is knackered. Singer Steven Adams confesses that their ‘mammoth’ three-day tour has taken its toll! Guitarist, Jay Williams looks like a man who has been partying on an industrial scale and is now paying the inevitable price. Eyes closed, swaying alarmingly, wiping perspiration from his furrowed brow - and that’s before the set has even begun. At one point he drops to the foot-high stage and remains out of view for what seems like an age before leaping, jack in the box-like, into the air. What the subsequent nose rubbing and facial ticks were all about is anyone’s guess…
Even Adams lacks some of his usual cheeky chappy exuberance. However, when an audience member tersely ‘shushes’ some noisy oiks at the back of the hall, Adams is still plenty sharp enough to respond mid-song with a perfectly timed, deadpan, “Sorry!”
The set takes a couple of numbers to find its legs, but kicks into gear with ‘Salivating’. Williams scratches his six-string to within an inch of its life as Gavin Johnson lays down a wonderfully hypnotic rolling bass line. It’s an altogether meatier rendition compared with the recorded version and, pleasingly, is all the better for it.
‘Please & Thank You’ gets a thorough airing, with ‘Cinema vs House’ and the gentle ‘Mimi’ the standouts. The performance is definitely less folksy than in the past, but having refused a somewhat premature call for ‘John Belushi’ barely seconds into the gig, Adams finally relents and bathes us in the song’s sweetly strummed pathos. We’re also treated to the soul-ache of ‘It’s All Over’; however, this treasured musical gem loses much of its sparkle when, half way through, a ‘mate’ whispers that while it’s a great song it is, “a bit Coldplay”. Ruined. Forever. Bastard.
The crowd laps up a thunderous rendition of ‘Back Of The Chapel’ and sings along to ‘The Booze And The Drugs’ as a suitably dysfunctional love pervades the room. Hero of the hour is drummer Micky Roman who fights manfully throughout with the swathes of taffeta curtain that threaten to engulf him at the back of the tiny stage. His sticksmanship contributes a keener, driving edge to the stripped down ‘A Place You Deserve’. He goes one better on new album track, ‘Borrowed Time’, banging the bejesus out of his skins as the song builds towards its thoroughly satisfying climax.
With Adams having to catch the ‘11.39 train’ home to Cambridge (back to the day job the next morning?) proceedings are wrapped up early, with no encore. But there’s still time for the sleazy, pumped up rhythm and blues of ‘Please & Thank You’ opener, ‘Please Yourself’ to send the ‘extended family’ home happy… and largely reassured.
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