The Vice of the People

Folk-rock guv’nor Ashley Hutchings has passed on the title deeds of The Albion Band to his son Blair Dunlop and, following on from their ragged and raw debut EP, comes this full-length statement. It is indeed a revival of the old Albion spirit. In Vice of the People – nifty wordplay there – there's roguery-a-plenty spread over a folk-rock broadside of an album, with good tunes and political roots. The opening ‘Quarter Hour of Fame’ is a brief glimpse from the parapet over the wasteland of a post-reality-TV land, which then kicks into a superlative, hard-hitting take on Richard Thompson's ‘Roll Over Vaughan Williams.’ ‘Coalville’ is a socially conscious ballad with country touches, sung by Katriona Gilmore, while strapping English dance tunes parade by on ‘The 2X2 Set’ and ‘The Skirmish Set.’ which has that classic 1970s drum-bass lock-in much in evidence. A broadside for bankers comes with ‘Thieves’, to which you can well imagine them adding new verses as the landslide of debt continues to overwhelm the body politic. An evocative synth phrase elevates ‘How Many Miles to Babylon’, an Iraq-War soldiering ballad, while ‘Set Their Mouths to Twisting’ sports a ravey, glammy riff over French poet François Villon's words of warning.

Fans of the Albion Band's earlier incarnations under Hutchings will not be disappointed. This is a muscular and powerful set that embraces the band's shifting but distinctive legacy, while paying attention as much to its shoots as its roots. This new Albion holds water.