Probably the shortest fantastic album ever recorded, Bragg’s first outing of political cat-scratch sonnets and warped but somehow real love songs is simply too raw to ignore. Indeed, the acclaimed and revered British D.J. John Peel couldn’t ignore it himself when it arrived strangely on his doorstep along with a Mushroom Biryani (a curry that upon analysis appears wholly undesirable). Since, Bragg has made a name for himself as one of England’s foremost songwriters and musically minded political thinkers. And yet, after a string of well-regarded albums (albeit fading a little more into obscurity with each release) Bragg’s debut effort still manages to explode in your ears with punk sensibilities and sonic assault like no other. In short, Life’s a Riot is more hard-hitting and extreme than the majority of Rock and Metal’s limited spectrum.
Despite being more of an E.P it was marketed as an album for chart reasons. This doesn’t seem to matter upon listening to it. During its mere sixteen minutes Life’s a Riot purposefully grips and pulls you into a world of working class dissatisfaction (“To Have and to Have Not”) and devoted but somehow woeful romance (“Milkman of Human Kindness”). Billy does it all with a guitar sound and playing style quite simply like no other. Whilst successfully applying the noisy and abrasive tenants from his long days of punk, he still manages to play with an almost Motown inspired rhythm filled with one-time-only musical inflections.
To a certain extent this record has become shadowed since its niche disappeared in the early nineties, but the truth he speaks lyrically and with his extremely subtle musicianship still endures today. It’s an album overlooked by most and yet deeply appreciated by those aware of it. Indeed, these short recordings were enough to stop John Peel himself from eating his free meal to play Bragg’s music on his radio show. If this short collection was stellar enough to instantly cause Britain’s most respected D.J. to help propel Bragg’s career then there are no reasons, anachronisms or otherwise, for this colourful record to fade.
Here are a few sample tracks:
A New England
The Man in the Iron Mask
Lover's Town Revisited
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