The State of Things: Parental Advisory (Audio CD)

An awesome album and an awesome band I bought this album around a month ago without really knowing whether I would like it...having only heard 'Heavyweight Champion of The World' and 'She Said He Loved Me' and believing they would be the only catchy numbers from the CD. I must confess I missed the chance to see the Reverend and his band at Reading Festival 2007- as I wanted to see 'The Enemy' and 'Maximo Park' on other stages at the same time. But clearly I missed out. The album is a great listen for anyone remotely into Indie. Although there remains the vast majority who have yet to hear either the songs themselves or even of the band, once you do you will be hooked. The electro strains also broaden the appeal to a wider audience who as ever, want something fresh, new and vibrant. I've been so impressed by the album that I made a special effort to get hold of tickets for a gig of theirs and it was brilliant. Tonight I went to the Carling Academy in Birmingham to see them and the material/atmosphere/price was top notch. So as someone else said. Buy the album. Then go and see them. And quick. Before their popularity escalates prices!

top tunes I have not stopped listening to this album since i bought it. every track is brilliant and most of my friends have purchased copies since i MADE them listen to a wonderful new band.

"Dont forget you can get off the conveyor" While virtually everyone's been wetting themselves about the Artic Monkeys second album Reverend And The Makers have snuck up on the rails and produced an album that's roughly about fifty times as enjoyable as the Sheffield moppets effort. RATM may not have the snaky post punk or maybe its now punk edge of the Artic Monkeys but they know how to write songs that sink irresistibly into the grey stuff rather than skitter annoyingly round the cranium before disappearing forgettabley into the ether. There is a link between the two bands of course. The Reverend John McClure has previously been in two other bands, the first named Judan Suki along with Alex Turner. The Second - 1984 is referred to in the famous Monkeys lyrics "dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984" and "I bet you look good on the dance floor". Alex Turner even plays and co-writes "The Machine" and provides guitar on "Sex With The Ex" Thankfully that's all they have in common .RATM are a far more playful , engaging and esoteric experience. There are elements of ska, pop, punk and even electonica in the 12 songs here. Funky fluid bass lines vie with steely glowering keyboards and razor wire guitars and blimey there is even a violin on the sky scrapingly melodious "Armchair Detective". There are some great songs sung with a slight sneer but never in an over affected manner that can rapidly becomes as irritating as a blue bottle in a light fitting. "Heavyweight Champion Of the World" is anthemic but don't let that put you off and it s by no means the only track on The State Of Things that could qualify in the anthem stakes. The title track like..... well any song on the album is centred around some societal or everyday event but has a towering epic quality that belies its kitchen sink origins." Bandits" even has the audacity to have an internal dialogue going on round a steaming carousel of a tune. The delicate tingling guitar refrain of "Sex With The Ex" provides pretty contrast as do the vocals of Jon's girlfriend, Laura Manuel, who provides occasional balanced purity to McClure's severe constructive diatribes. This particularly applies to excellent latest single He Said He Loved Me with a caustic duet telling the story of a heartbroken teenager who's been dumped by an older man. Only occasionally does it pall -"What The Milkman Saw" is energetic enough but lacks the sing-a- long impact of the albums strongest songs and while the dub influenced "Sundown On The Empire" is a laudable attempt to shoe horn a dissimilar genre into the mix it's a rather mundane attempt. The ska -influenced "Miss Brown" shows it how its done. Overall this is a sneeringly confident debut album with depth , essence and most importantly tunes that could thaw a concrete golem. As the zippy almost techno based "The Machine " says "Don't, forget you can get off the conveyor" .Time to take that leap of faith now.

'The State of Things' is better than you could imagine! Reverend and the Makers will make you sit up and listen. Great studio/live band! The album, 'The State of Things' is a 'must have'. Firstly though, let me say how fed up I am with reading/hearing reviews etc., connecting/comparing Reverend and the Makers with Arctic Monkeys. Just because Jon McClure (The Reverend), and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) happen to be flatmates. So what!! The band's couldn't be more different. So, take no notice! Reverend and the Makers are a band like no other. The lyrics, the Rev's vocals, and the Makers music are a 'wicked' combination! OK so maybe the Rev comes across as a little arrogant, but hey!, he's sexy with it! Obviously, summer 2007's anthem, 'Heavyweight Champion of the World', is one of the albums 'stand-out' tracks, but all of the other 11 tracks are great. There are no 'fillers' on this album. 'Miss Brown', 'What the Milkman Saw' (a lively bawdy romp!), and 'The Machine' will have you leaping around. However, two slower tracks, 'Sex With the Ex' (with the Rev's, 'oh so sexy' vocals at his devastating best!!), and 'Sundown on the Empire' are excellent, and show the Rev's 'softer' side. Go, buy this album. Play loud. Make up your own mind. Then go and see them live at a gig near you.

I said i love it! There's always going to be some bias when reviewing a local band whom you really like, but this is wothout a doubt a truly great album. No doubt there will be critics and it may not get the recognition it deserves as theyre not an over publicised band but the quality of the songs is stunning. Whilst most people will know the singles "heavyweight champion of the world" and "He said he loved me" the other songs which i believe really stand out are "18-30" and "What the milkman saw" To prove i can be critical between tracks 4 and 7 you can kind of lose track of the songs as they are all similar sounding, but if you listen tot hem individually you appreciate how good they actually are.