Bad Manners – Gosh It’s… Bad Manners
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week we’re taking a look at the third Bad Manners record, Gosh It’s… Bad Manners
Walking In the Sunshine has a neat little funky stroll to it. love the prominent bass here – like a real strong heartbeat right at the bottom of the track. lyrically, not wildly impressive but musically this one rocks. Dansetta is… strange, but it’s very compelling. huge fan of the really strong synced upstrokes with the horn blasts between the lines in the chorus. Can Can is a sorta rearrangement of, well, the Can Can, or Jacques Offenbach’s Galop Infernal. this is fine. Weeping and Wailing is surprisingly catchy. kind of a funny track, but i wish they leaned into it a little more, haha. i appreciate what Casablanca (Rags and Riches) is setting up but i think it’s just not quite executed in a way that lands for me. gotta say i love the decision to record Don’t Be Angry live – the big band, jazzy vibe of the track is accentuated with the live performance, and i love the crowd in the background. excellent. i also forgot this is a cover, of a Nappy Brown track. Benny Wriggle is perplexing to me. this song is extremely compelling, for such a nonsensical track. damn. compels me though. Runaway is a more laid-back entry, and it’s a nice pleasant spot in the record. Never Change kinda overstays its welcome, especially with the weird little interlude. the track coulda ended there. Only Funkin’ is a weird outlier here near the end of the record. this track’s good, and it’s weird that it’s played straight between the tracks it’s sandwiched between. End of the World is doing a lot instrumentally and i gotta respect that – and i enjoy this track, especially in the lineage of tracks like the Ivor the Engine. Gherkin is bad. bad way to end the record.
faves – Walking In the Sunshine, Dansetta, Don’t Be Angry, Benny Wriggle, Only Funkin’, End of the World
dislikes – Gherkin
i don’t know if this is their best record, but i can absolutely see how this was their most successful record. it’s got a lot of the weird edges sanded off (well, until the ending chunk of the record), and a lot of the material is extremely good. that being said – this is basically just a collection of singles. not a ton that’s tying these tracks together, and while some are humorous and some reach a further thematically or musically, in the end it’s just a solid listen, and not a ton more.
what was a little interesting was going back -my individual track opinions didn’t change greatly, other than warming to Dansetta and Don’t Be Angry, but i think i have a better opinion of the record overall, haha. that’s been consistent with me going back and seeing my old Bad Manners opinions though – i wasn’t a huge fan the first pass around, even though there was stuff i enjoyed.
Gosh It’s… Bad Manners – 6/10
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