Imperial Leisure’s ‘Lifestyle Brand’ Burns Out The Bar Tab In Seconds

The Good time-encouraging seven member entourage known as ‘Imperial Leisure’ make an awaited return with their upbeat and party-orientated ‘Lifestyle Brand’.

This new album addition may take a title that suggests a serious anti-conglomerate statement but really plays the part of a self proclaimed anarchist’s college party with half-expectations of ‘the people’s poet’ making an appearance in his yellow dungarees. Possessing a sound that blends Madness and Dexy’s midnight runners into one politically opinionated package, the London-based authority-mocking 12 track release serves a perfect alternative slice of British Ska punk to their listeners.

An undeniably catchy head-bopping melody and a rich flourish of blues brass meet a lyrical collection of tour-weathered stories, including tales of exotic sexual encounters and blistering highs among friends. The album captures the relationship that the band has between one another. The friendships that form strong bonds and the hardships that make an unwelcome appearance which most fans would never experience except through their music. Although it may seem this genre would be aimed at a particular audience instead of having a mainstream listening basis, the music appeals to all ages. From the fresh skank noobs to the seasoned veterans, these musicians have the capability to keep even the most stubborn music lovers entertained.

"Victory Cycle" stands out quite clearly as a representation of how a generation slowly maturing don’t have to lose their wild side. They choose not to fall into social conformity of loosing the silly nature that everyone grew up with but embrace it as something that marks you as unique in personality. Occasionally certain lyrics fall under the classic but overused punk classification of writing about a particular anecdote with no regards to how the audience will react to it because that’s not the reason your writing it. The real motive being that the artist wants to make it public because it is a statement or simply worth writing about.

In this bands case, I can safely say that ‘three women one night’ is pretty self explanatory in its literal sense, but also speaks about a form of ‘Lad culture’ which is unmistakably sweeping the nation as a sexist form of acceptance in male-dominancy. A professional opinion however would be that the band have simply adapted a Blink 182-related ‘I’ll write a song about what I want’ style with no ulterior motives except to have fun and have fun with their loving admirers.

‘Imperial Leisure’s third album to date will not only have you skanking to a new level of commitment but it will also have you begging for more.

To find out more about Imperial Leisure click here.

To visit the Imperial Leisure Facebook page click here.

Words by Nathan Roach

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