Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
In today’s world, being serious is not only seen as a virtue, but shows commitment to every cause that comes our way; we must be seen to appear stony faced, deflecting all that could be construed as silly, frivolous, demonstrative in the chambers of perpetual grimness, and never once find stuff, life, amusing anymore, in case we are seen to being on the side of humour heretics.
To embrace the feeling of seeing life as it is meant to be, an absurd happy accident to which so few of us are afforded a decent run of being on stage, we must ensure that the we announce with glad tidings that The Rascal Is Back, that the jester lives on, and the patient joker has all they need to give someone a smile where all they might see is gloom.
We are all guilty of forgetting that we need a dose of humour in our lives, not one born of cruelty, but a chuckle, a full on throated belly laugh at the inevitability of our situation, the scamp within needs to be able to sing songs of revolutionary laughter, as well as damning those that have made our lives one of complex industry, sentenced to worry every time we open our mouths to speak our truth.
After two heartfelt and earnest recordings, the time is now for the sublime Ben Bostick to revel in his obvious joyful side, and in his new album release, The Rascal Is Back, the energy, the glint in his eye, returns with wholehearted appreciated, and as
Enlightening personal reveals and sideswipes delivered with a grin, such as You Can Leave In The Morning, My Sister And Me, Po No Mo, the excellent Strange Duck, Iowa Girl, I Remember Easy Street, and the album title track of The Rascal Is Back, all congregate at the doorstep of amusement and joy, Ben Bostick leaves behind the serious nature of the last few years, not dismissing them, but with more than a suggestion that time must move on from collective despair to one where we seek out a new belief, that fun does not have to be seen by humourless puritans as a sign of devilry, but one of human brilliance.
To feel a state of grace that enjoyment insists is a right, is to know that you are alive; by allowing Ben Bostick to give the gift of music once more to your life you are acknowledging with purpose that The Rascal Is Back, and that rascal is you.
Ben Bostick releases The Rascal Is Back on April 14th.
Ian D. Hall