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Single/Download Review
Those Unfortunates I Wish I Could Smile Like Malcolm Midnight Bell Records
Article written by
Ged M - May 24, 2015
This is a tribute to the great British actor Malcolm McDowell (the unforgettable Mick Travis in ‘If’) and is released with a limited edition art print on his birthday (13 June). It’s the work of London band Those Unfortunates who, according to their website, write “songs about hapless businessman and dead entertainers, lives viewed from bedroom windows or across Underground carriages.” They remind this listener of the Jam and Television Personalities, but especially Peter Doherty’s Babyshambles, for their London vernacular singing style and their essential Albionness. It’s poppy and a little ragged but it’s driven by a very moreish Pied Piperish organ and has the sort of shambling spirit that has you grappling drunkenly with your mates as you howl out the chorus.