This album as Haines explains in his book "Post Everything" was written and recorded while a musical he'd been working on for two years was getting axed by The National Theatre. On top of that the release of the record was delayed for one year as the label that had agreed to release the album in the first place failed to pay Haines his advance. Even though the record came out only in 2006, it has been out of print for several years already which is a shame as it is one of his most satisfying solo releases. The lyrics display Haine's usual interest with sixties and seventies topics. On Leeds United he manages to combine references to Elland Road stadium, the yorkshire ripper and seventies surburbia lifestyle set to a fantastic tune (really nice piano parts on this song especially in the way they work with the bass line). Opener "Going off my rocker at the art school bop" is quite different from the rest of the album with its dance beat and blips (it wouldn't have sounded out of place on Black Box Recorder's "Passionoia" album). You get songs on underage discos (Walton hop), seventies glam rock star turned paedophiles (Bad Reputation), rock revisionism (Heritage rock Revolution), dead sixties gangsters (Freddie Mills is dead), suburban hooligans (Fighting in the city tonight) etc... you name it. It is a difficult thing to pen lyrics that are meaningful, funny and still manage to fit the melody without sounding forced, Haines pulls that off on every single song on this album. If you're a foreigner like me, it also brings to your attention parts of British culture and history that aren't... how we could put it...mainstays in history books. In fact you could almost say that this album is an early version of Haine's "North Sea Scrolls" side project" minus the plot and the narratives. At the end of the day a really good album that deserves to be discovered by the masses.
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