Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A faith can come and go; it can be lost, misplaced or even denounced, but even the biggest denouncers still retain an element in all that they do. It doesn’t have to be a faith in whichever deity is current flavour of the month, or even in a person or humanity as a whole or in something, a faith gets shaken but if treated gently and with caution, that faith can be restored.
To be lost without that faith is like walking across a hot, steamy, waterless desert with only a single ration of used toilet water to guide you through and with nothing to eat but the pox ridden camel in which you traded your freedom with. You drift nomadic like and rove where the camel will eventually look at you with hungry eyes; or you can put the thoughts down, shelter in the return of whatever faith drives you and listen to Joe Topping and The Vagrant Kings and their highly enjoyable semi self titled album.
The Vagrant Kings is an album which throughout looks at questions of faith, but one in which faith is a leveller or a machine in which a human reacts with what is thrown at them. Through the soft, near virtuous tones of Joe Topping, an adventure is offered to the listener. Not one that has an overbearing set of exploits and quests to see off, but one that certainly has a journey, an exploration of the soul in which answers are possible, if one asks the right question.
Whether through the eyes of Joe Topping, or the musical inferring of Steve Perry’s use of Wurlitzer, grand piano, drums and all manner of instruments in which captures the sound sought, or Jack McCarthy and Scott Poley adding great effect to songs seeking salvation, the listener cannot help but feel overawed by a convalescing attitude which doesn’t seek to punish, but instead offers a helping hand to forgive yourself, it is a feeling that is gratifying and almost unique.
Tracks such as No Matter Where I Ramble, the superb I’m Not Gonna Worry, This Love and Lack of Money, Redemption or the beauty of Sweet Sixteen all hit the spot with such precision that you can almost sense deliverance being thrust upon you, albeit in the shape of a heavy duty quivering arrow drawn by the mightiest of slayers.
If ever you lose your faith in the power of music, if life has dragged you away from feeling the sense of innocent wonder, then Joe Topping and the Vagrant Kings will show you a new, less trodden path to guide you back to where you belong.
Ian D. Hall