Pete Bentham and the Dinner Ladies have been around for over a decade (I‘m sure thats true as I attended their 10th Anniversary gig). Their most recent album ‘Englands Up For Sale’ came out earlier this year and its about time we posted the review (yet another well overdue article...)
The track 'Brick' starts with some razor sharp drums and the vocals begin before swinging into full on chant along song. ‘It’s not a metaphor it’s a brick, don’t speak to me like I’m thick’ sets the tone for a song that isn’t about suffering fools and being prepared to say it. The snaky sax takes it almost into blockheads territory but more direct and tunefully so. The lyrics have a n intelligence that Mark E Smith would be proud of.
The Dinner Ladies play with ideas and concepts ‘Controlled by Buildings’ presents the idea that even buildings are designed to force us into particular courses of action - supermarkets, casino’s. A downbeat simple start builds up with guitars and sax adding to the vocal motif. There is a really great guitar sound here (and on the rest of the album). This is a stripped down song but one that stayed in my head long after playing the album. In its more swinging parts there’s a hint of a score to a British b/w movie jazz film.
Goth Postman goes hi ho silver and away into this 60s track with its hint of the Shadows as it gallops away with it fast rockabilly/skiffle. It a thoroughly enjoyable song thats kept me amused on repeated listenings.
The title track ‘Englands Up for Sale’ has a French Parisian feel. mixed with Eastern sounding wind instruments which provide a riff that the song builds on. Its slow and compelling and lets the restrained and considered lyrical anger at the collapse of the UK come to the fore. It sounds dangerous.
Other tracks we noted include ‘There Goes the Neighbourhood’ with its lovely chilled out intro, ‘Better to be Good (than a Hood)’ with its heartfelt lyric and hint of Leonard Cohen. The album ends with the throwaway ‘Always Say Thank You (To the Driver of the Bus)’ with its good natured sentiment. Yes, you should always thank the bus driver, and anyone else really.
This band often (because of Pete's guitar style) get compared to Wilco Johnson/Dr Feelgood but this album fleshes out other (already present) influences and styles. The Blockheads are in there and for me there’s elements of Deaf School, earlier Serge Gainsborough, and they do share something with Half Man Half Biscuit; but the Dinner Ladies still only sound like themselves, a unique musical and lyrical voice. The album contains great playing and great songs.
Words and Photos: RBY
Album Purchase: www.antipoprecords.co.uk