Mr Plow return with a magnificent gothic adventure from the heart of Leicestershire.
Mr Plow may hail from Leicestershire, but the heart of their music is steeped in gothic New Orleans with a pinch- no, a ladle of southern states mystique. Twelve years on from their previous collection, Not The Beginning, Not The End…, Lincoln W. Plow and the band are back with a new album.
The child’s drawing album art belies the material within, and straight out of the gate, the reverb-filled guitar hook drives out of the speakers, taking you on the first journey of despair and excess. This one could be the story of the people involved in the Epstein scandals, where the rich feel they are untouchable, only to end up, as the title declares, in the Great Dismal Swamp.
The next swipe is big-style religion. It is a simple song claiming that the larger, more impressive the church building, the more TikTok views you get, all add up to A Bigger, Better Jesus. The line “Our prayers are fielded higher up the chain / Our crystal roof shuts out the burning rain”, sung in Plow’s plaintive style, with more than a hint of sarcasm and derision, is genius. All this is surrounded by a swirl of fuzzy guitar and pounding bass.
Plow, consciously or possibly unconsciously, channels Leonard Cohen for Every Loser Loses Again, which could be a dusty offcut from Cohen’s I’m Your Man recording. The poetry has a wonderful darkness, with a hazy guitar solo that should bring a smile to your face despite lines such as “To live happily in a beige convenient hell / Every loser loses so well”.
Things are not all rooted in American Gothic, as the instrumental, exquisitely titled Surf Nazis Must Die, proves. This brings that surf-sound guitar all the way inland to the East Midlands. Dick Dale would be proud, and Quentin Tarantino’s ears would definitely prick up. Alex Soppie’s bass, along with Mark Haynes’ drums, holds the whole thing together perfectly.
Elements of Jesus and Mary Chain are most evident on Find Joy. A lament pleading with us to find the joy in the things around you, even “turning grey and slowing”. Mud Mountain has a breathtaking Black Sabbath-style riff at the start that almost has you expecting Ozzy to join in from behind the veil. The meandering guitar over the rumbling bass and the rising drums at the end all add to the gothic splendour.
There is much to admire. The standout, The Happiest Person Alive, starts with the startling first line “She broke both his arms, and she beat him and left him to die” and has you wondering where this is going. The song has a beautiful, unexpected twist at the end, which brings the story nicely full circle. It’s excellent poetic writing and storytelling. A wounded deer gets revenge on the drunken hunters in the song “300 lbs”, where the music fits with the subject matter seamlessly. Like most of this collection, you are left smiling and not really understanding why or if you should. Listening to this, you feel like you have been through something together, somewhat disturbing but altogether euphoric. It has been so long, Mr Plow – welcome back.
