You could just dismiss Reverend and the Makers as yet another band telling us how shit everything is in Britain today. And second-single, He Said He Loved Me would do nothing to make you think otherwise…
Telling the tale of girls being left by their boyfriends for their better looking, less knocked-up mates, He Said He Loved Me is a miserable look at the youth of today.
Lyrically, it’s not amazing. The strains to rhyme “He said he needs me/He said to Keeley” is a little bit much, and considering it crops up twice a chorus throughout the song, it can grate a little.
Comparisons with Sheffield’s other musical export, the Arctic Monkeys, are inevitable, but unfathomable at the same time; sure, they both tell tales of working class culture in the steel city, but you’d struggle to find two bands more musically worlds apart.
The track is more musically reminiscent of the likes of riot-grrl’s Le Tigre and gypsy punks Gogol Bordello, which in itself is an odd combination. Mixed up with Jon’s hypnotic narration and Laura’s vocals on the chorus, it all adds up to a fabulously eclectic mix.
Following in the footsteps of Mike Skinner and more recently The Twang, Reverend and the Makers knock up some corking modern poetry for their lyrics.
The downside, though, is that it’s as repetitive as previous single Heavy Weight Champion of the World, and with the chorus being a whiney lament of lost love, well… it can get a little annoying. But on the whole, it’s a cracking upbeat track, which bodes well for the album release later this month.
