Reviewed by Paul Keeble

It's not often you receive an album packaged in a recycled box of Sainsbury's Rice Pops with instrument credits including syrup tin, soap dish, wok, teapot and other "assorted kitchen equipment," so I approached this double album with interest. The Brooms Of Destruction describe themselves as "passionately silly musicians, writing and playing an eclectic bunch of songs about world issues and cookies. Met while reading at Reading Uni." Proceeds from the album go to RSPB and the UK Christian student charity SPEAK. On to the music. CD 1, 'Derelict Wasteland' is mostly nylon-strung guitar-led songs in the English pastoral/folk tradition. It opens with "Derelict", a seven minute piano-led ballad, leading into "Sunny Spells And Scattered Showers". "Little Fat Bird Of The Barley" and "Swift Song" are about birds and "Wildflower" even opens with birdsong. "Wilderness Road" has a nice feel with some lovely bass playing. "14:23 (Pts 1 and 2)" sound like bits of noodling which tend to intrude into what would otherwise have been a nice run of thoughtful songs. Closer "Make Tea Not War" features the utensil percussion and asks how a cuppa would have made a difference to several famous conflicts from history including David and Goliath and Osama BL and George W. Throughout the message is clear: rural and nature = good; urban, asphalt, concrete = bad. So in "Farmhands" we hear a longing for a future idyll: "One day we'll all be farmhands/And breathe the open skies/Working with our fingers/We'll bury all the lies of the past." (Fine, though the Bible ends with a city, not a return to Eden. But this is maybe not the place for a discussion on the theology of redemption.) CD 2, 'Dereliction Of Responsibility' seems to be a sort of bonus disc collection of extra tracks and in-jokes. Songs include, "Peanut Butter Junkie", "Boots" and the very silly "Amphibious Pigeon". "Parking Space" spoofs that well-known spiritual practice of using God as a location-finder. "Danger Grouse" is a kazoo-driven cover of the theme tune to the old children's cartoon of similar name. "There's A Wasp In My House" is a tale of finding and humanely removing a wasp from a kitchen. Really. But there is also "Escape From New Street", a paean to the perils of modern rail travel ("Somewhere in the darkness lurks/The dreaded engineering works/That'll keep your train eternally suspended") and a couple of well-played but poorly recorded harder rocking protest songs, "Climatologist" and "Dr Fish". Then, after closer "Toad In The Hole" (don't ask). a hidden track. "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese" is a pun-strewn homage (or fromage? Yes? Never mind) to a certain Eurythmics song. Considering what was probably a small recording budget TBOD have done OK and there is probably one disc's worth of decent material here, plus several "you-had-to-be-there" songs non-brooms fans would listen to once.

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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