The Global Broad Band - "Freedom"
These two EPs dropped through my letterbox the other week from my mates at Stone Premonitions, and are the first fruits of a new band put together by Tim Jones, Terri B, Paddi, and Dave Hendry. ‘Waddya Want’ kicks off in tremendous style, being a full-on heavy rocker, taking in some heavily politicised lyrics over a churning rhythm section, and incorporating a great call and response chorus. ‘Free Palestine’ wears its convictions on its sleeve, but as a song it works well as they have not forgotten to write a good tune to go with the sentiments. ‘In The Image’ is a reworking of a track from the collective’s last album together ‘The Clowning Achievement’, this time with a bit less emphasis on the guitar and more on the vocals. ‘This England’ is another heavy political statement, and yet is backed by an eminently danceable rhythm. ‘A Different Kind’ is back to the hard rock of the first track, and once again the lyrics demand attention, with the self-criticism of the offensive language hammering home the point. ‘Perpetual Motion’ is another revisiting of one of the highlights from ‘The Clowning Achievement’, but this time the nine minute dance/rock amalgam is edited down to a more digestable length. Stone Premonitions bands have always had something of a political bent to their music, but the Global Broad Band have brought their views much more to the fore, and this could become a bigger part of the music of the collective in the future.
by Peter Jolly (www.peterjolly.co.uk)