The Real Tuesday Weld - The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid

Genre rock Publisher Six Degrees Records External Links Official Website Six Degrees Records

The Real Tuesday Weld is one of the more interesting bands I've heard in a long time. By that I mean these are some strange cats. By "strange" I mean "strange in a good and exciting way." To understand my concept of "strange" in a good and exciting way, consider how you may have felt when you learned that the worlds longest ear hair was measured at 5.19 inches (for reference, please see http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?ID=57033).

All seriousness aside, The Return Of The Clerkenwell Kid is one cool, cool album. Singer-songwriter Stephen Coates mixes ragtime-style jazz melodies with electronica, and pop music with a skewered concept of easy listening. It could come off as "goofy," but underneath the meloncholy oddball lyrics ("baby the bruises you gave me/they made me from," "Bruises") lays a completely unique texture. Just like hummus, you can't go ahead and bash it until you try it. I used to think hummus sucked by default and would never eat it. It looks all weird like some nasty oatmeal or something. After I tried it, however, boy I sure enjoy me some good hummus now and then.

Musically, Stephen and the boys are very sharp. Not only do they write cool pop songs, but they also cleverly and very competently put-together arrangements. There is a lot of violin, ragtime piano, acoustic guitar, trumpet and a reed instrument which I could only guess to be an oboe or something like that. For an art band, these guys are some fabulous musicians. For some fabulous musicians, they make one hell of a creative art band. It's reciprocal.

My favorite song on the album was the electronica-esque "L'amour et la Morte." It has a smooth arrangement and moved along quickly. Each song on the album is generally different, just like some of the middle-period Beatles albums. I'm not saying The Real Tuesday Weld is anything like The Beatles, but their concept of diversity within albums is very similar. Both bands are, however, British. If you want to hear some really unique music, be sure to give these Brits a listening with a packet of crisps and a pint of stout or four.