Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The maverick is alive and well and absolutely kicking out with the force of the brave and the idealistic. Tensheds is all things it seems to all who come across the beautifully entrancing anarchy that is on offer, the pushing not just of boundaries but of the imposed limitations we seem grateful to accept as some type of natural law, a set of rules that we must not do something because nobody else does it either.
The Dandy Punk Prince is the cause and effect of not listening to those who say certain moments cannot be done, particular artistic endeavours cannot be served well by attempting them and yet the result is nearly always the same; not only should they be attempted, they should be grasped and lauded for what they are, perfectly tuned achievements.
Tensheds’ The Dandy Punk Prince is the result of sticking to a principle, of seeing how far you can go with a particular set of songs that have only been created by the musician on the piano, the artistic version of saying I will cross the Atlantic Ocean but only by kayak or traverse the old Silk Road but only by hopping on one particular leg for the whole journey. It is a principle that is superbly served by Tensheds and across the whole of the album the feeling of listening to a new spectrum of music is abundant. It is the same feeling that once thrilled the Punk generation who had grown tired of Disco, Progressive Rock and the near sycophantic preening of the never ending pop star and whilst Progressive moved with the times, it can’t hurt to have this new found freedom enthuse a new generation to make sure that the boy bands and constant churning of repetitive soulless wannabe’s stay locked away under the floor of good taste.
Tracks such as Shooting Myself, Milktrain, the dedication of War and the pinnacles of Powder Blue Leather Pinned Mohair Noose and the great Doghouse are not just sublime, they tingle with the prospect of what could come after, it may be a dream, it could be seen as urging the anarchic onwards but there are times when the world turns just a little askew to make it exciting enough to recognise that times could change; The Dandy Punk Prince is that blistering herald.
Ian D. Hall