We Wish You A Mellotronic Christmas!

Exactly three years to the month since the release of their scintillating debut, ‘1/2 Dove - 1/2 Pigeon’; Micko & The Mellotronics make their return with their much-anticipated second album ‘Le Vice Anglais’.

Since 2020, it is more than obvious that ‘the climate’ has gone through more than a rollercoaster of debased normalcy, and the album justifiably reflects Micko’s next phase: in which he focuses on the psychological narrative pertained in his new songs rather than lauding in a bittersweet way, the ‘broken Britain’ characters of ‘1/2 Dove’. A bit like the reflective nature of The Teardrop Explodes’ album ‘Wilder’ contrasting with the exuberance of their debut ‘Kilimanjaro’.

Actor/Musician Micko Westmoreland entered the mainstream consciousness back in 1998, as an actor playing the non-speaking ‘Jack Fairy’ in Todd Haynes’ film ‘Velvet Goldmine’: a human personification of the intellectually ambient side of Glam rock, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale - all representing part of the film’s conflicting character hierarchy.

Primarily a musician, after the film’s release, he went on to release three albums of electronicana and eventually a song-based one called ‘Yours Etc Abc’ (2015) containing future Mellotronics songs in the making (‘Schmescos’, ‘Freaksville’, ‘Casting Couch’).

From 2017, with The Mellotronics, Micko premiered songs on the London live circuit that eventually graced the ‘1/2 Dove’ album proper. They supported luminaries such as David Devant & His Spirit Wife and The Monochrome Set pre and post lockdown.

Horace Panter (The Specials) shares bass duties with Budge Magraw (The Cesarians). Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey) returns for a guest saxophone spot on the closing track, the world-weary ‘Of Spirit And Bone.’ Lead guitarist Paul Cuddeford plays on five songs while Micko plays guitar, vocals, beats and mellotron. Such a line-up can’t be beat!

The opener ‘Words’ begins proceedings in a funky but pronounced fashion held together with bullish bass and a whoozy organ-sound. This is a song that is initially head-scratching. But taken literally, the words ‘flapping around like exotic birds’ can be interpreted in a divine or oppressive fashion, with the deflated but killer line “Always an extra pound in the charity mug” hammering home the message.

The next song and the second single ‘Autosexual’ are more standard Mellotronics: a burst of stinging fluctuating rhythm guitar as if Micko is indulging in delightfully conveying an almost deliberate lack of structure. The guitars are literally on fire in this track and seem to simultaneously occupy different planets. The players need to be praised again for ‘Big Game’ with it’s almost Peter Hook-like bass is the essence of a very democratic number where the rhythm and the lead guitars exist as one unique unified whole.

The Libertines-like ‘Holloway Road’ contains distinctly seasonal arpeggiated guitar, and conveys a mournful sense of psychotic acceptance. It is multi-faceted and allows the listener to relish the relatable touchstones. It seems OK that it occupies the same ‘locale’ as The Kinks’ album ‘Muswell Hillbillies’. Thankfully, ‘Hillbillies’ was once a cult album and buried treasure for The Kinks. A fine line between the obvious and obscure. You get the picture.

‘School Report’ has a unique angle. It focuses on the pedantic oppressiveness of education and offers a wry insightful into the fact that most teachers are frustrated writers, and the poetic cutting comments that they use are equivalent to using the cane. A throwback sense of social realism in contrast to the ‘inclusivity’ of today’s standards.

The Charles Baudelaire-like ‘Kid From Nowhere’ begins with guttural noise and effectively uses ‘flowers’ as a metaphor for the eponymous protagonist’s frustration. It is very similar to ‘Alpha Male’ which comes across like ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ in reverse where “meltdown is the free fall”. Micko’s reedy cautionary vocals are most definitely synonymous with with the instrumentation.

The album’s stand-out track is the first single ‘ (What’s In A) Name’ where Micko’s buddy Actor and Comedian Kevin Eldon appears for a duet. In terms of singing structure it reminds me of The Who’s ‘The Punk And The Godfather’, with alternating lead vocals. Early Rolling Stones-like guitars at the forefront, it seems to regretfully and mourn the fact that life is passing one by. Not exactly X-rated, but definitely not one for the kids! This loosely flexible style of instrumentation - which is a marked change from the previous hard-hitting style of The Mellotronics- is also prevalent in the tongue-rolling ‘The Great Santani.’

One might not ‘get’ ‘Le Vice Anglais’ on first listen with its voluminous lyrical twists and turns. Certain albums are like that. It may need a re-valuation or it may be an instant hit. If one wanted to indulge in a pre-download throwback of sorts, the album would be a veritable stocking filler - something that the Beatles people also had in mind all those decades ago. All needles are on red. Santa’s made it down the chimney!

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