Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Witnessing life from the bottom is never advised but it often cannot be helped, the system and the machine is far too entrenched in our lives and whilst some offer the seemingly helpful advice, the sage driven cliché of seeing life from the bright side, it never truly magnifies itself into changing perspective, it doesn’t get the soul moving, and the reason is arguably down to the fact that we are still hearing the same beat all the time.
It is no wonder that a change in beat can lift the spirits, can see the sun rise slightly differently, even if for only a short while, for a minute or two or for the beauty of a day holding on to the sincere burst of the fresh and invigorating breath of dawn; a new dance can make the sun’s power get into your blood and let it pound through the heart as if being steered by a thousand volts and a mad scientist declaring over your body the words, “It’s alive.”
Carry on Jiving, carry on feeling a new beat, carry on carrying on, because to feel a smile on your face and the shoes tapping away on the solid floor beneath is to know that even in the darkest times you can still put out a beat that will dampen and anger the soul of the keeper’s of the machine; for that is the point, to infuriate those with dust for blood by seizing the beat and making it sing.
Whilst The Stargazers haven’t been around in album form for a while, there is no escaping the sound in which they perform with a sense of masterly persuasion in their new release Carry on Jiving. It is an album in which, no matter the subject, the big swing of 50’s energy combined with the healthy attitude of letting the jive talk loudly and without interruption is boundless and unrelenting.
In tracks such as The Wedding Band, Little Ol’ House of Rock, Boo Hoo Hoo, U Bring Out The Poet In Me, The Wonderful Thing About Rock ‘N’ Roll and Haunted House, the current line up of this utterly beguiling band is steeped in the art of liberty, of freedom of expression and one that when the self proclaimed guardians of the tyrannical machine cannot but help to sneer at; what greater endorsement do you need to listen to such a terrific album. Carry on smiling, carry on feeling the pulse, Carry On Jiving, for in that act of small but determined rebellion stands greatness.
Ian D. Hall