EP
Cabbage
The Extended Play Of Cruelty
August 25 2017 (Skeleton Key Records)
7/10
Words: Richard O’Hagan
What do we think of Cabbage? The North-West’s not-so-new rockers have garnered a fair amount of adverse publicity in the past and, possibly for that reason, have been a bit quiet over the past few months. Now, just in time for festival season, they’ve emerged with a new five-track EP, ‘The Extended Play Of Cruelty’.
One thing to remember about Cabbage is that theirs is a rather studied form of punkish artlessness. The rough edges that you hear to their music are edges which were once polished down by years of grind around the North’s music scene in various bands (it’s no secret that two of the five were once in the much-loved Twisted Wheel) and then deliberately roughened up again to give some bite and guile to what they are doing. They are, in effect, the musical equivalent of a not-quite-new cricket ball.
The first three tracks on offer here on this James Skelly (The Coral)-produced work, are in some ways Cabbage-by-numbers, all chopping guitars and the interplay of co-vocalists Lee Broadbent and Joe Martin. But there’s subtle differences. Opener ‘Celebration of a Disease’ might see them get a bit carried away with repeating the title, but it is catchy as heck. ‘Fraudulent Artist’ is crisp and clear, evoking memories of The Clash’s ‘Janie Jones’, whilst ‘A Network Betrayal’ is just kinda angry, a band railing against life.
To close, there’s a piece of pure chutzpah, with a track named after the band’s drummer, Asa Morley. It probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone outside of the band, and is the most lightweight number on offer here, but it’s a fun way to go out. Preceding that, ‘Ertrinken’ is the shortest and most startling part of the whole record. It is just over ninety seconds of stripped back music and the lines "I kept my feet on the ground/And hold you down until you drown". Spooky
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