Following a tradition as old as Christmas, December 1st brings not only the opening of the first window of your advent calendar, but also a new album by Jay McAllister. Okay, maybe not as old as Christmas, but it’s happened every year since 2009. Releasing music under a name like Beans on Toast clearly shows a disregard for giving a fuck, a mentality that’s effortlessly woven into the musical adventure of A Spanner in the Works.
The Essex born folk singer has written thirteen tongue in cheek anthems. Proceedings are kicked off with the woeful ballad ‘2016’, which outlines each and every shit occurrence that the past year has given us in a string of phenomenally crafted lyrics. Yep, it’s exactly as depressing as you’re imagining. From here, you are taken through a montage of charming tales, outlining bluntly the life of a very ordinary British man. Whilst most artists long for the lyrical ability to tell tales as Shakespeare once did, Jay McAllister just sings what he thinks. Not often do you hear professionally produced tribute to Wetherspoons, a plea to legalize weed, a ballad to England’s dying nightlife. But that’s exactly what makes this record so great.
Disappointingly, the music on this record is diabolical. Cleverly though, the music is so awful you end up listening to the lyrics more than you normally would. I like to think this was an intelligent touch, but have an overwhelming feeling it was far from it. Either way this album is an endearing piece of art that should be admired for stunningly formulated lyrics rather than shunned for its terrible instrumentation.
Ben Roberts
[image: Xtra Mile Recordings]