Pinky Beecroft and theWhite Russians - PinkyBeecroft and the WhiteRussians (EP)

Sun 15th Oct, 2006 in Music Reviews

Best known to most of us as the frontman of Machine Gun Fellatio, the undeniably odd but endearing Pinky Beecroft is back, this time with his band the White Russians and their self-titled debut EP.

It would be lazy to make comparisons to mgf while listening to this EP.  However, once the opening few bars of psychedelic sounds end and Beecroft’s vocals kick in on The New Miss Sweden, it’s hard not to think of Beecroft’s former band.  The opening tune is a mgf song not in form but in substance, right down to the more relaxed verses, urgent chorus and use of muted guitars.  Sexy and steamy, this track is full of energetic lust with its twisting sounds and clean guitar work.  Sure to be a hit.

Even on Fabulous Driving, it is hard to shake the memories of mgf as the soft piano backing makes the song reminiscent of mgf’s Unsent Letter. Slow in tempo and with lyrics whispered, Beecroft sings openly with the heart of a broken man: “But I’m waiting on the sky to clear / if you don’t bail and leave me here alone”.  This is the type of song to have on while spending a Saturday night alone and feeling sorry for yourself with a bottle of red and yearning for a lost loved one.  If Fabulous Driving is for a lonely Saturday night spent with a bottle of red, Make Your Selection, Press OK is for a different type of boozy night altogether.  With its pounding bass and lazy feel is the type of song to spin late on a big Saturday night / early Sunday morning as things start to get a little hazy and a little dirty. 

The catchy Got Control uses a funky bass line to create a cool, smooth tune with Beecroft at his strange and autobiographical best.  It is a song that could only be written while emerging from a deep and dark place in one’s life, and so it only seems natural for Beecroft to have penned this tune.

“I got one hand on the weather holding off the rain /
I’ve started feeling better, I got control again/
I didn’t find no better judger cause I bought no private plan/
But my future’s come together, I got control again“

Interesting lyrics and a nice guitar solo towards the end of the track help Get Control provide a bolder statement and make the listener stand up and take notice. 

Rounding out the eclectic EP is Glorybox, a laidback cover of the Portishead tune done in a whacked out way that only Beecroft could have pulled off. 

The most surprising thing at the end of it all is the fact that despite initial tendencies towards the past, this Pinky Beecroft project is clearly fresh and a step in a whole new direction.  Who are mgf again?