Album Review

Skinny Lister – Forty Pound Wedding EP

• 2nd Nov 2012

Sidestepping the current trend and subsequent resurgence of alt-folk, Skinny Lister come out fighting with a classic English folk sound tinged with Irish song writing influences and stomp-along choruses. The EP is packed with historical references and recanted tales of love and loss that cement the tracks as nu-folk classics in the making, steadily grooming a whole new generation of folk fans who are sick and tired of over produced and under-thought pop songs with a shiny veneer and little depth.

The strings and accordion drip with warmth on this record and the lacklustre, slap-dash gypsy drumming ties it all together perfectly, not least on title track Forty Pound Wedding which was written by band members Lorna and Max’s dad George Thomas aka ‘Party George’; a rip-roaring folk stomper.

The two remixes at the end of the EP show a more cutting edge to Skinny Lister and are an interesting experiment in combining chill wave, retro electro and folk which work surprisingly well – Colours rolls along gently with a hazy English summer feel and an unexpected, distinctly Californian swagger, whilst The Sunday Best remix of Plough & Onion swims in a sugary head rush over deep synthesizers and Eighties drum machines and is a total curve ball ending to an EP that guides the listener gently on a musical journey through a forest of sub genres and experimentation and thrusts them blinking into the early morning light.

Like contemporaries Bellowhead, Skinny Lister are sticking to their roots and dripping in heritage whilst being simultaneously unafraid of showing their modern side, and if this EP is anything to go by it’s a tactic that’s paying off. This is essential listening for music fans and aficionados.

Venue: Forty Pound Wedding EP
Support Band: Sunday Best Recordings