Album Review: The Chords UK - "Big City Dreams"

 


Veterans of the early '80s mod revival scene, while the Chords never quite got the chart success that the likes of the Jam and Secret Affair did but they've proved themselves to be among the most durable bands of the movement with frontman Chris Pope convening a new line-up under the Chords UK banner in recent years and this being their third album following on from 2018's Nowhere Land.

It gets off to a strong start as well with the Ramones-esque former single Listen To The Radio while Last Great Rock Star and the clarion call of Hey Kids! Come The Revolution are reminiscent of the Alarm’s heart-on-sleeve honesty. One of the good things about Big City Dreams is that this is a group capable of belying their years to throw enough tricks in to ensure that it never gets dull such as the loping T-Rex/Sweet style glam rock groove underpinning Keep Calm And Carry On and A Billion Things To Do or the ska beat of 21st Century Girl or Portobello Road (which marries gentle acoustic slide guitars with a rumbling reggae style bassline to good effect). Best of all is Life Got In The Way which goes from a gentle busker-style acoustic intro through a spaced out dub style verse into a big riffed-up chorus. Pope's clearly a man with an ear for a thought provoking lyric as evidenced on the likes of White Van Man or the tale of domestic desperation that is Turned And Walked Away although the more straightforward likes of All For Nothing At All and the Who-esque closer Great Expectations show that this band can keep it simple and kick out the jams to good effect too when the mood takes them.

I was pleasantly surprised by this album - let's face it, there's enough bands who were around at the time the Chords first emerged on to the scene who have been well and truly phoning it in in recent years but Big City Dreams is a well played, varied and well-written album which proves that this 21st century incarnation of the Chords UK are anything but a museum piece and have more than enough energy to be a force to be reckoned with.

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NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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