Bow Campbell's BloodyHell - Crooked Mile

Thu 27th Oct, 2005 in Music Reviews

If you’re thinking that the name Bow Campbell is familiar, you’re right.  Campbell has been one of the driving forces behind that hard rocking unit, Front End Loader, since the band’s inception in 1992. In the following 13 years Front End Loader has produced four releases, the most recent being last year’s mini-album Ape Got Fire.

Outside of the band, Campbell has performed and recorded with Frenzal Rhomb, Karma County and Jimmy Little. This diversity is expressive of Campbell’s talent and adaptability and it shows on his latest release, Crooked Mile.

Given that Front End Loader has such a reputation as a fantastic, fast and loud  band, it’s no wonder that Campbell takes as many opportunities to express the other dimensions of his talent. Bow Campbell’s Bloody Hell started life as the Impossibles in 1994, as a chance for Campbell to play songs that didn’t require the assistance of a mountain of amplifiers. Eventually it evolved into a regular band. An album, Blanket Show, was released in 2001 and the band subsequently fell apart.

Not content to let the songs lie, Campbell rehashed the music as a solo project and created Bow Campbell’s Bloody Hell. Backed up by Dave Aston (drums), Geoff Martin (bass) and Jeremy Craib (piano), Campbell had been gigging steadily with the band recently and an offer to record at Bigjesusburger Studios arrived late last year. Recorded in just a few days, Crooked Mile is as intriguing and engaging as it is subtle and bare. Throughout the six songs, the album retains a wonderful perspective and atmosphere. 

The first track, I Don’t Remember has a melody that could almost belong on a Karma County album, only the lyrics are far more bleak,
 
“Did I treat you like a fool?
I don’t remember
Was I confident and cruel?
I don’t remember.”

Sunset Years is another song that describes growing apart from someone and becoming isolated. 

“In my sunset years
no more arguments no parlour games
just glasses, hearing aids and walking frames.”

Bowing Out is the album’s most dynamic song. The drumming has a wonderfully intelligent character, while the piano glides around a deliberately understated melody. The empty spaces in this song encourage a sense of depth and inspire a lot of feeling. It is charismatic stuff.

My Extra Hand reintroduces a faster tempo to the disc. One thing that is immediately obvious is that the lyrics aren’t in the same vein as those on the rest of the tracks. It seems to shift back a gear, moving away from mellow introspection. The organ is introduced for the first time on the album at this point and continues to feature throughout.  It is perhaps not the strongest track on the album, but it certainly doesn’t detract from the rest.

Boxes returns to the familiar theme of lost relationships.

“Look at all of these pictures
strip them all off the walls
pack them all into boxes
stack them all in the hall
it’s a funny thing is a wedding ring.” 

The song itself works well, swinging between tempos and pulled together by creative drumming and droning keyboards. This song is different in that it is the most musically complicated of the six and is not merely a frame for Campbell to hang his lyrics on. It would be great to hear some more of this style of material on a future release, if only to contrast against Crooked Mile.

The set finishes with the brooding On and On, which continues on the themes set up in I Don’t Remember and Sunset Years. It is driven by some smooth bass playing and interesting ascending piano phrases.

All together this album reflects a man with an intelligent, creative perspective. It’s great to hear an album drawn together by a single theme that doesn’t sound pretentious or contrived. Crooked Mile is about as earnest and direct as any album you are likely to hear this year. It’s lyrics are so honest and heartfelt, while the playing shows a real maturity. The striking thing is how mellow and open the songs are, there is nothing excessive and the album is that much better for it.