Paul Heaton 'The Cross Eyed Rambler'

Ever wondered what would have happened if Paul Heaton had quit The Beautiful South in the mid-90s and joined Shed Seven?

Thought not. But anyone whose mind has wandered down this particular blind alley need wonder no longer. TracksandGigs has been a supporter of Paul Heaton/TBS even when it has been particularly uncool to be so (i.e most of the time). I believe Heaton to be a superb songwriter and an expert in the human condition. Too often his intelligence and wit is mistaken for irony, many honest and heart-felt sentiments expressed in his songs have been written off as him being clever or knowing.

Since leaving The Beautiful South, Heaton has recorded this album with some veteran Manchester musicians, with the focus on guitar, drums and vocals, meaning this is more Housemartins than Beautiful South. In fact it sounds nothing like Heaton's old band, as we alluded to at the start of this review, it is as if Heaton has joined some mid-90s Indie band. the tunes are upbeat and guitar based but ultimately unmemorable.

Heaton's songwriting remains very good. 'The Pub' is a typical wander down the memory lane of Paul's local, documenting departures of quiz nights and arrivals of karaoke. Elsewhere he focuses on 'issues', most successfully on 'Everything is Everything' where he works himself up into a convincing, irony free, rage at the modern world, with Web 2.0 a particular target "Your my-tube, your tube, their big mouth....Everything is Anything and owt is fucking owt". Its the best thing here by a distance and show how Heaton can grab a song by the throat and rip it apart when he wants to.

....When he wants to. Unfortunately there is filler here and quite a lot of it. Also, the music is bland and uninspiring....like The Beautiful South, but a different kind of bland. Heaton has a great novel in him and undoubtably a fantastic memoir. Maybe he should turn his focus that way if he cannot find musicians to do his songwriting justice.

6.4

['The Cross Eyed Rambler' is out now on W14. Don't bother with the limited edition with the extra tracks. They are bonus tracks for a reason]

*- TracksandGigs is now back from holiday. Beck review coming soon...

Paul Heaton new songs, gigs

Tracksandgigs will receive no credibility points and certainly will not get a mention in Drowned In Sound or Pitchfork for admitting to a liking for the work of Paul Heaton. But, we don't care.

The Beautiful South may be unfashionable but Heaton is and always has been a superb songwriter and a great singer. I have seen the Beautiful South live on two occasions. The first time was in a very small venue and Heaton was extremely drunk, the second was in a much larger venue and Heaton appeared to be sober. Both gigs were great and unlike some I wasn't bothered by the amount of middle-aged couples wearing matching sweaters at the gigs. Who cares if they know that some of the lyrics are 'ironic'? I have to say I know little of the drug fuelled world of Holly, Gideon and Charlemagne but that doesn't stop me singing along to all the songs when I see The Hold Steady play live. Some people liked TBS because Heaton was a great songwriter and other people liked them because the tunes were nice and easy to listen to and they liked the other singer better because he had a "nicer" voice. It matters not.

Anyway, TBS split up last year due to "musical similarities" but now, as TracksandGigs suspected, Paul Heaton is BACK with a new band, new songs and a tour. Paul is now calling himself Horace Heaton Jr (his mum and dad are Horace and Doris Heaton...) and the new songs sound NOTHING like the Beautiful South, if anything more like the Housemartins. Upbeat, guitar-driven and fresh, this is a very exciting new direction for Heaton.

Hear demos of the songs here:-
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=242459102

Paul, please add a second London date. Cheers.