In April 2018, I received a 14-track album by the south Wales collective, Anonymous Iconoclasts (Think Kiss without the glamour or platforms!) entitled ‘A.I’. It was so good that I dusted down my under-used laptop and wrote a detailed review. This week marks my return to live radio after a bit of a break and what was waiting for me but a brand-new album from those shadow-lurking musos! If I thought the 14 track ‘A.I.’ was ambitious, the new offering, ‘Send in the Suits’ is a hefty 20 songs long! ‘A.I.’ offered a glimpse of the horrors that technology has to offer and ‘SITS’ with an image of the House of Commons emblazoned on the front cover, keeps up the story. Sine their last release we’ve had lockdown, of course and our ‘Anonymous’ friends have had a lot of time on their hands…
Musically the Icons are almost impossible to pigeonhole, as each song is a different style, or genre from its predecessor. ‘A Real Situation’ kicks us off, in full Talking Heads mode with the first lyrical use of the word ‘egress’, to my knowledge. The deadpan delivery of most tracks leads to a comparison with David Byrne and co, especially the choppy guitar work. ‘Let’s take a Trip’ has more of a country feel and includes a few jabs at some guy called ‘Elon’ and his space tourism adventures (who could they possibly mean?).
‘Just Because’ is a tremendous ‘list’ song, in which not so anonymous iconoclasts such as Marilyn and Jimmy Dean get name checked, amongst other 20th century cornerstones. ‘Don’t change my Dear’ continues, in the Americana style. ‘Keep on Moving’ has a beautiful, simplistic guitar run and more deadpan delivery, accompanied by shuffling drums and percussion. I first heard the next track, ‘Our new Norm’ back in the heady days of lockdown and it has several wryly witty observations on those curious months that we spent on Zoom, clapping hands, two meters apart. This version, produced by Danny Chang, has added a flute, to the demo that I first heard and is a genuine highlight, of the first half of this behemoth.
The upbeat ‘Green Tree House’ follows next. This had me thinking of early R.E.M. with a few McCartney style yeah’s thrown in and some Bob Dylan harmonica (kitchen sink, et al). ‘Chill in the Air’, ‘You took away My’ and ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ capture this band, in a snapshot, country ballad juxtaposed with quirky, indie pop. ‘Fall like a Fool’ is again typical; jaunty music with dark, sinister lyrics, featuring Beatles-esque stabbing strings.
Country twang returns with ‘Let it all Out’ and then the tempo livens up with ‘Learn to Live’ a ‘weird way of listening’, indeed!. References to fingers in ears and the sometimes vocally strained delivery make the song intriguing, as well as weird! ‘Swings and Roundabouts’ has a latter day, Johnny Cash feel to it whilst ‘Come by and See me’ channels the ghost of Leonard Cohen via Roger Waters.
‘What d’you think about that?’ highlights the drummer’s impressive abilities whilst ‘Safe at Home’ takes us back to our shared COVID memories with some Donovan style finger picking for good measure. The (instrumental) title track, ‘Send in the Suits’ is a jazz shuffle, complete with scat vocalising, bizarrely features the phrase ‘more tea, vicar?’ during the intro! The whole shebang finishes with ‘This way Up’, a simple whistled melody, over a lo-fi, almost Bontempi organ-sounding keyboard riff.
Phew and that’s your lot, a complete smorgasbord of styles which like Zappa works most of the time with very few missteps. SITS is available via Spotify but why not support the band? £7 for such a strong, 20 track album, is some bargain!
Please don’t leave it another five years, lads, or the next one will be a 100 track, box set! This is really great stuff but now it’s time for me to find the egress…
Chris Philips BGFM Radio