Tough Love

The opening track to Hamell on Trial's sixth album (yes, sixth, people) is called ‘Don't Kill’, and sees this most unique and subversive of songwriters not so humbly taking on the voice of God, giving the warmongers of our time a telling off, and insisting that no-one was intended to be killed in His name, not "for heaven's sake". This track is almost the perfect encapsulation of the musical niche Hamell's carved out for himself in the past 10 years or so. The lyrics are both incredibly funny and ironic, but also fantastically pointed and unusually profound. The music is rough, simplistic and highly inventive rock 'n' roll. 'Don't Kill' sees Hamell's familiar (and strangely not sounding like overkill yet) aggressive guitar technique, but this time is accompanied by, and unlike his last two studio albums 'Choochtown' and 'The Chord is Mightier than The Sword', musicians just as accomplished as he. The production and musicianship on both those albums was markedly more, well let's say a little less professional, which, far from detracting from Hamell's songs, made them sound vibrant and somehow aligned with the real-life, low-life scoundrels he was singing about. Which begs the question; does a Hamell On Trial album really require slick musicianship and a greater production budget? Any answer seems irrelevant when the songs are as good as the ones found on ‘Tough Love’. The real question, I think, is, Why the hell has no other musicians of the same calibre as Hamell wanted to work with him before? Never mind, because there are some truly stunning contributions from Ani Di Franco (the soulful duet on the gorgeous and strange ‘All That Was Said’) and Gary Lucas (the brilliantly esoteric guitar backdrop to the true story ‘Downs’, which details Hamell’s near-death experience, morphed into his reintroduction to getting high on prescription drugs), and the tight, great production is courtesy of none other than Super producer John Leckie, who previously produced The Stone Roses debut and Radiohead’s The Bends.
The other aspect of Hamell’s artistic character is his need to confront and rebel against the mainstream, seen in earlier songs such as ‘Hamell’s Ramble’ (Choochtown) and ‘The Meeting’ (The Chord is Mightier Than the Sword). This has remained, and in light of 9/11, and the many troubling issues which have arose in the aftermath, has seemingly intensified. The afore-mentioned ‘Don’t Kill’; the clear-as-could-be anger of ‘Halfway’; a wake-up call directed towards mainstream media, hypocritical sell-out high-profile musicians and the quasi-patriotic politicians that seem to rile our man Hamell; and ‘There is a God’, attacking again the mainstream media, only this time for its grave tendency to sensationalise suicide. Despite these issues being very serious ones, and frightening ones, Hamell’s ability to transcend the despair and anxiety it can breed, and deliver his art in a frank, honest, and funny way is only to his credit. His music serves as inspiration for change, not as depressing reflection of the times.
There are also the love songs (‘Everything and Nothing’, ‘First Date’), the crime novellas (‘Dear Pete’, ‘When Destiny Calls’) and the confessional vignettes (’95 South’, ‘A Little Concerned, That’s All’). Every song is worth a mention; a touch of lyrical greatness, or brilliant passage of rock ‘n’ roll is found in every track.

In short, ‘Tough Love’ is an incredibly far-reaching and yet balanced album that is successful both in the profundity and irony found in the lyrics, and the inventive, haunting and occasionally beautiful music that has been produced here. ‘Tough Love’ may well be Hamell’s most consistent and substantial album so far, and it may also be his most accessible album so far, a combination that will hopefully give this great, under-appreciated songwriter the fan base he deserves.

If only Hamell didn't muck about. He's a brilliant man, as shown on When Destiny Calls, Dear Pete, Tough Love, Hail, First Date and 95 South. There Is A God and Downs are also good. The rest though are songs to snicker with, or mild anecdotes, as if the guy actually has nothing to offer. What with the magnificent Choochtown and The Long Drive - his two best songs - plus Go F*ck Yourself, Judy, Joe Brush, When Bobby Comes Down and Bill Hicks from the album 'Choochtown', there's the makings of an unbelievably good compilation. An edited 7 Seas, and Big As Life from 'Ed's Not Dead' also make the grade. This would be Hamell minus the totally slack sections that pull down the albums to such a degree that no end of year listing would or should include them, despite their including a few best-of-the-year tracks (or best of the decade like Choochtown and Long Drive). Every publication out there would sit up and sit notice.
Until that happens, there's no sign of Hamell letting up though. One listen of 'Civil Disobedience' off of 'Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs' is evidence of that. Buy it, and read the words you miss. Then go with 'Hey Boss' and 'Values'. He's still uniquely Hamell.

Having had this record recommended to me by a friend who has been lucky to back him in concert in Leeds, I was amazed at the pure diversity at the songs on this record. From the simply beautiful 'Hail' to the funny 'Dear Pete' and the bitter 'Halfway' - which should have been a chart hit by now due to it's pure entertainment quality. If you're looking for some obscure but excellent music, then buy this record! If you're looking for good music, buy this record! Just get it and be entertained.