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Review: Skinny Lister - Forge & Flagon [Album]

Sunday Best // "This is an album 'in the style of' folk – Forge & Flagon just doesn't 'feel' like a folk record."

by Jackio0, June 26th, 2012 and has been Read 1031 times.
Last Edited by: Chris MUG5 Maguire June 26th, 2012.

In a vitriolic swirl of jaunty folk, Skinny Lister are to folk what Mumford & Son could – and perhaps should – have been, but it’s not without its issues. Castrating the Pogues and giving the Dubliners a bigger amplifier might get somewhere closer to the authentic folk sound Skinny Lister are striving for in Forge & Flagon, their first LP, but it lacks that validating mix of inner pain and exterior anger that, when combined with a need for unadulterated joyousness, makes folk music the way purists might say it should be.

WATCH// 'If The Gaff Don't Let Us Down'

What’s lacking isn’t talent, or musicianship, or unadulterated joyousness, it’s the deep-seated emotion that brings with it a story, moral, or situation. Whilst the bands’ pop sensibilities make the music accessible and the familiar jigging of the songs make the album an enjoyable listen, its difficult not to see the album as one lacking a certain sort of meaning. Forge & Flagon has enthusiasm in leaps and bounds, however, giving the album a great summertime sound that’s perfect for the bands’ favoured setting: festivals. Tipped the ‘Hardest Working Band of 2011’ by PRS for playing the most festivals the band have an obvious drive that seeps through in the shanties and jigs of the album and this energy makes the album interesting.

WATCH// 'Peregrine Fly'

The male-led ‘If The Gaff Don’t Let Us Down’, ‘Rollin’ Over’, and ‘Wild as the Wind Blows’ are packed with shouted group vocals, vigorous violins, and constant rhyming that create a somewhat formulaic sound that differs little from the rawer alternatives of the Pogues. It is instead the songs where lead singer Dan Heptinstall’s voice is fused with co-front woman Lorna Thomas that a more authentic sound is found. ‘Peregrine Fly’, ‘Kite Song’, and ‘Plough & Orion’ are interspersed between the aforementioned tracks, showing the band in a more pensive state. The songs are more stripped back and raw, exposing what sounds like truer emotions, given them room to expand and infuse with the melancholy folk accompaniment. The joint vocals often fuse pleasantly, expressing a unity that is more affecting than the laddish shouts of the other group vocals but, contrarily, this unity lacks the raucous folk energy that the latter creates.

It’s difficult not to see this as folk music for the swathed teenagers wearing Topman 'Dr Dre's 2001' t-shirts whilst being completely unaware of the historical, musical and social impact of the album itself beyond its image. And whilst this is no direct critique of the music itself, the point might be made that this is an album in the style of folk – Forge & Flagon just doesn't feel like a folk record. Beyond the shanty-esque exterior the album seems to lack something vital for the overall authenticity of the record, something hard to place and harder to define, but something missing nonetheless.