Album Review: The Scaramanga Six - "Worthless Music”

 

It’s good to see the Scaramanga Six returning to the fray. Now into their third decade as a band and on to their tenth album, they're a group who are sometimes brilliant, sometimes bewildering but never anything less than a fascinating listen. And in Worthless Music they may just have served up one of their strongest offerings for some time.

Kicking in with the lurching current single Big Ideas and scathing lyrics like "I'll be bringing you back down to earth and you'll be thanking me as you fall", it's clear that the band are not in a compromising mood here by any standards. The panic adrenalin rush of An Error Occurred, another former single, is followed by the equally frenetic Decade With No Name which spirals through like an out of control rollercoaster ride. You may find yourself needing to catch your breath afterwards and thankfully Boy provides a drop in tempo, a sinister five minute epic which has a definite hint of Lodger era Bowie about it.

The short sharp shock of former single Horse With No Face promptly drags us back into the maelstrom before the squalling distorted riffs and Mark E Smith style vocals of Dog Forms ("Woke up in a mermaid's purse/Stockholm syndrome in reverse") and the swirling rush of Cults (which also includes some decidedly unexpected Beach Boys style vocal harmonies just when you least expect it) well and truly amp up the chaos. At nearly seven minutes, Death Mask Of The Unknown Lady Of The Seine recalls the Cardiacs with its pulsating rhythms and discordant guitars before Former Selves packs in an almost reggae style rhythm and Northern Soul style sax in the middle. Again, never a dull moment with this band.

Stranger In Your Mind starts off like Adam & The Ants' Prince Charming given a post-punk workover before crashing into what can best be described as Wire going all widescreen and cinematic. A genuinely unique song and one of the highlights of this album. Ipso Facto even dips into synth-heavy New Romantic territory albeit the most sinister New Romantic band you ever did hear before Kate & Cindy sounds like Bowie covering Bauhaus. Which just leaves the sinister minimalist former single It Is The Face Wish How and the scathing discordant Then I Met Joanna to guide this one home.

Worthless Music finds the Scaramangas as difficult to pigeonhole than ever and in great form. One of those albums you can happily lose yourself in for days, it may not be the easiest beast to get into but persevere with it and it'll quickly worm its way into your listening affections and happily stay there for months. Great stuff.

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NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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