Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The art of the confessional poem may be steeped in American post-war history but it takes a suitably British voice, one steeped in the absurdities of the over-flowing English eccentricity and way of life, to truly bring past declarations of admission seem suitably cool and full of understanding.
Not for Vinny Peculiar will you find the hidden message laden, the daring concealed communication that Sylvia Plath employed in Daddy, or the wasted and admirable qualities that Anne Sexton brought to mind, all Vinny Peculiar needs is the distant memory we all acquire, startling observational skills and the gift of putting exquisite poetry to song, all of which comes to fruition in the album Down The Bright Stream.
Not that you should ever wish upon a fellow human being a bad day in which to prove a point. However, should someone you know have a run in with their superior, see their team relegated, their favourite book suddenly being turned into a film which stars Tom Cruise, or just generally have a day which blew harder than a hurricane ripping across the Pennines, then the only true course of responsible action would be to play Down The Bright Stream; sit back and watch as the colour returns to their cheeks and the mood improves beyond measure.
The art of the British confession is perhaps lost in the way people apologise for the slightest mundane thing, the politeness inherent may be rubbing away, the manners taken a long walk down the East Lancs Road, but memories remain and in songs such as the terrific opener, English Village, the truth of I only Stole What I Needed, the utterly charming and marvellously enjoyable Anthony Gormley, the riveting melancholy of The Saddest Summer of Samuel S and the humour laden The Doo Kum Inn, all manner of eccentricity is welcome and to be applauded.
The best confession of all is that no matter how many times you may have heard anything by the poetic master, on par easily with Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, is that Down The Bright Stream sits so close to the very best of his output over the years that it requires a new definition so not to get mixed in with a crowd not worthy. For Vinny Peculiar, this is that defining moment, it may be his tenth studio album but what he brings to the listener’s attention is a truth, that to understand the world, to comment on the past, you have to have had observed it first hand; all the rest is supposition and folly.
If someone is going to take you by the hand and point out with poetic charm what has been and what caused it, a historian might do, Vinny Peculiar though will do it with a grin on his face and put a song in your heart.
Ian D. Hall