The Young'uns on The Moon

The Young'uns are a folk trio from the land to the north east of The North who provided the spine tingling Brewster & Wagner to A Best of 2015 on The Moon . It brilliantly recounts a tale of a  German sergeant coming to the rescue of a British soldier and serving him bread and wine in a shell hole in 1915. It was the last track on their last LP and their new LP Strangers carries on where it left off by celebrating a number of heroes from the past and present.

It is very much a record for 2017 as it celebrates those that have stood up against fascism, bigotry and injustice, including those who ran towards a gun on the 9364 to Paris in 2015, the Eastenders who stopped the Blackshirts on Cable Street in 1930s London, or those like Ghafoor Hussain and his bus full of rice, tea and beans. Like Nadine Shah and Ghostpoet, they also tackle the refugee crisis directly with the brilliant Dark Water. It is all very worthy, and lyrically descriptive, but they are more Gilbert and Sullivan than Lloyd Webber and Rice. Dark Water comes closest to Brewster & Wagner in the emotional stakes, but the rest  of the LP is a joyous and uplifting listen -  if Bob Cooney’s Miracle does not make you smile then you are doomed.

Bob Cooney’s Miracle sounds so classic that I assumed it must be a cover, but the album opener A Place Called England is the LPs only cover. It was first released by Maggie Holland back in 1999, but it is just as, if not more, relevant in 2017, especially with The Young'uns replacement of four-wheel drive with The Virgin Isles...

Check it out via Spotify below or in the other usual places.