Reviewed by Anthony Longville

In the past Paul Poulton has been called the English Larry Norman (don't know who by). If that was ever true (okay, so he did have long hair, but Norman never had a Midland accent), then with the advent of PPP, Paul has certainly been blazing his own musical trail. This is the follow up to the critically acclaimed 'Dumb Dogs' and certainly to these ears shows a greater consistency than its predecessor. From the chunky guitar of the opener "She Sees Other Men" to the hippy trippy Beatle-esque "Don't Blame Me", this is guitar-driven music from start to finish, tightly executed but never showy. Ironically this album does contain a Norman cover in the shape of "Rock The Flock", a rendition personally approved by Norman himself. The only other song not a Poulton original is "Ain't It A Shame" - a reworking of a 1920s song once recorded by Leadbelly. The PPP version had a working title of "Hypocrites Blues" and Poulton's amended lyrics contain a delicious twist exposing two faced attitudes in the Church. If one could ever get a sense here that there is insufficient variety in the music, the thing which always captures the attention is the lyrical content. Gem after gem from Paul's pen, covering a range of subjects. "They Don't Like It" is an indictment of gun culture including the words "Martin Luther King don't like it, John Lennon don't like it, Marvin Gaye don't like it, JFK don't like it" - simple maybe but I think rather perceptive! It's energetic and it's got plenty to say. Get your copy and dig in.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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