Skinny Lister “Forge & Flagon” Album Review
Skinny Lister
“Forge & Flagon”
SideOneDummy Records
Review by Jacob Ray
Skinny Lister is a folk band from London, England that primarily play, you guessed it, English folk music. Since the bands formation in 2009 they have released several E.P.’s and singles along with their first full length album “Forge & Flagon” which was released in the U.K. during the summer of 2012. The band then hopped across the pond and played the South By Southwest festival in Texas where they auditioned for Kevin Lyman and the folks at SideOneDummy. Obviously, Lyman and folks liked what they heard because Skinny Lister found themselves playing last summer’s Warped Tour and SideOneDummy has now made “Forge & Flagon available to all of us prodigal, tea-wasting Americans. It was released on January 29th so you can get it now if you are so inclined. The band just finished a U.S. tour with Flogging Molly and Dave Hause and are playing several shows around their appearances at this year’s SXSW and Coachella festivals.
Available Now
Track List
1. “If The Gaff Don’t Let Us Down”
2. “John Kanaka”
3. “Rollin’ Over”
4. “Trawlerman”
5. “Peregrine Fly”
6. “Seventeen Summers”
7. “Wild as the Wind”
8. “Forty Pound Wedding”
9. “Kite Song”
10. “Polkas (Jenny Lind/ Girl in a Blue Dress)”
11. “Plough and Orion”
12. “Colours”
An album that is front to back folk music, both lyrically and sonically, is something that most people will either really enjoy, or turn off as fast as they possibly can. Forge and Flagon is a prime example of this. As a fan of the Frank Turners, Real McKenzies, and Flogging Mollys of the world, I really enjoyed this album. The album kicks off with “If the Gaff Don’t Let Us Down”, an upbeat tune about sailing back to England. It is during this song that you first hear Skinny Lister using an accordion, an acoustic guitar, upright bass, and gang vocals with just a touch of mandolin to create an upbeat, sing-a-long type of song, a style that they use for the majority of the album. The second song, “John Kanaka” is just under two minutes of a bunch of dudes singing a song about not working. It is easy to imagine this instrument-less song being sung by the patrons of a pub, however, I can’t really imagine myself listening to it in any other context.
The third song, and probably my favorite on the album, is “Rollin’”. It’s another song about coming home and it’s super upbeat and catchy. It gets stuck in your head very easily. “Trawlerman”, a song about a widow whose son reminds her of her deceased, sea-faring husband. This song is the first one where we hear Lorna Thomas on vocals, however, in my opinion, this is not her best song. The next song however (“Peregrine Fly”) is fantastic. The older I get, the more I like songs that aren’t yelling at me (although I still like plenty of that) and it is songs like this one that are accelerating the expansion of my musical tastes. “Seventeen Summers” is about moving to a city and kind of getting stuck there, with some dude shredding mandolin in the background. The album picks up a little again with “Wild as the Wind Blows”. It’s another kind of goofy song in the vein of “John Kanaka” which are the two songs I am not crazy about on this album, although I am sure they are a jolly good time when they are played live.
“Kites”, another strong song, is a good duet with Lorna and Dan Heptinstall about literally flying kites. This song has a little influence from American Folk, and Skinny Lister mixes American and English folk quite nicely on this song. “Forty Pound Wedding” is a re-worked version of a song that Lorna and Max’s( the mandolin player and Lorna’s brother) father wrote. It’s a knee-slapping, pub style sing-a-long, the type of song that Skinny Lister prides themselves in writing. “Polkas (Jenny Lind/Girl in a Blue Dress) is an accordion heavy, polka song and I’m not real crazy about it, even after several listens. Skinny Lister does get points for trying a whole bunch of different shit though, that cannot be denied. “Plough and Orion,” really reminds me of the Lumineers (I’m from Colorado, I can’t avoid them) because it’s a soft duet that only has an acoustic guitar and the mandolin playing lightly in the background. I think that all of the duets on this album are great and lucky for me, the album ends with another one, “Colours”. It’s the longest song on the album and is just as gentle as the “Plough and Orion” but, unless I am mistaken, it’s about skinny dipping, which is always awesome.
I would definitely recommend giving Forge & Flagon at least one chance. If you are like me, and you like folky stuff like Frank Turner or, shit, even the Lumineers, you will like this album instantly. If you don’t like it, make two playlists. Put the upbeat pub songs on one playlist and pour yourself a dark beer and drink away, trust me, the songs will get better. Then put the gentle songs on another playlist and let Lorna Thomas serenade you to sleep. And if you don’t like the album, see the band live anyways. Music like this is usually fun in the first place, but Skinny Lister also travels with a five-piece dance troupe called the Skinny Sisters. You don’t see shit like that very often.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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