The Duckworth Lewis Method
The Duckworth Lewis Method - 2010
Tracks: 1. The Coin Toss / 2. The Age of Revolution / 3. Gentlemen and Players / 4. The Sweet Spot / 5. Jiggery Pokery / 6. Mason on the Boundary / 7. Rain Stops Play / 8. Meeting Mr Miandad / 9. The Nightwatchman / 10 / Flatten the Hay / 11. Test Match Special / 12. The End of the Over
Comments:
This new group is a collaboration between Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh of Irish band Pugwash. The album is thematically based on cricket, and many inside and funny lyrics come out of this.
Fans of Divine Comedy probably appreciate the album eagerly, because it contains everything of the best of Devine Comedy; melodic and catchy tunes, preferably sung by Hannon himself. I'm not familiar with the music of Pugwash and is therefore obviously not able to judge to what extent the Duckworth Lewis Method is akin to that band.
The songwriting has a lot in common with classic English songwriters like Ray Davies and Pete Townshend, and the mood often comes close to the rural idyll which characterizes the Kinks classic "The Village Green Preservation Society".
Many tracks could be highlighted. Among the most immediately catchy songs you'll notice "Gentlemen and Players", "Meeting Mr Miandad", "Test Match Special" and "The Age of Revolution" .
"Jiggery Pokery" is the music hall style song which sounds very much like a song Ray Davies could have written. Although the songs are put together in a thematic context, they also work fine individually.
A very exciting collaboration; whether it shall be a one-off thing the future must show. Anyway, a new Divine Comedy album is to be released in spring 2010, so Hannon fortunately has no plans of burying this overlooked "band" just yet.
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