Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Rarely does the accordion get the measure of admiration that it so richly deserves in the music sphere; it is an instrument that perhaps seen as unsexy, not cool, one that harks back to a time before the glamour of the electric guitar took on the world and was smashed into pieces by Pete Townshend on speakers that would never sound the same again.
The accordion isn’t perhaps the instrument that many would select to be the driving force behind an album, long forgotten images of clandestine meetings in dark corners by the Resistance, the next target any Fascist soldier unwary of what the dark brings and what the signal of the accordion can bring to their heads; it is an instrument of quirky mischief and one that really carries the sentiment of the style in its pumped veins.
For The Hut People, the accordion is a member of the family, it is the meaty brawn and the sweet filling that makes Routes such a lively, positive and cracking album in which to sink the jaws into and ravage the marrow down to its final succulent squeeze. Routes may be instrumental but the power of the accordion, backed up by all manner of musical gadgets and sound fury mechanisms, tells the tales with artistry and finesse; there may be no words but the story is clear, it is one of beauty and dedication, one that frames perfectly what The Hut People have set out to do throughout their time on stage and in the studio.
In tracks such as The Cage, The Whitby Drip, Dis Found Harmonium, Brighton Camp and Maids Stomach, The Hut People continue their deeply enjoyable foray into the world of exciting, foot tapping and wildly entertaining music, it is one that is delivered with astonishing vigour and a sense of purity.
Routes is not one way traffic, the feeling is mutual, the fun enormous and the depth, the sheer scope of the prize is one to swear blind forever that no instrument, no words, are ever useless in the pursuit of happiness.
The Hut People’s Routes is released on February 17th.
Ian D. Hall