DEEP SEEDED URBAN DECAY- SEX DRUGS AND ON THE DOLE (Original Pirate Material - Streets)

Member Name: kittykat18

Product:	Original Pirate Material - Streets
Date:	10/01/03 (1157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, Pirate, Material

Disadvantages: Samey

Mike Skinner is a young Brummie lad now living in London. He talks about smoking weed, being on the dole, eating fast food and going to the pub. Underneath there?s some strong beats and occasionally a catchy melody kicks in.

It doesn?t exactly sound the stuff of a revolutionary new garage artist, but The Street?s debut album, Original Pirate Material has been a huge success, even being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize (sadly beaten by Ms Dynamite).

They certainly do have an original and distinctive sound, and their tunes are about things British youth can relate to, which makes a change to hearing US rappers going on about guns, hoes and bitches. The songs are down to earth and several strike a chord with me, about feeling fed up and bored with everyday life and nothing seeming to change. However, the album has an upbeat feel about it overall and the jaunty beats counteract the sometimes gloomy lyrics. Mike Skinners soft Brummie/cockney tones are instantly recognisable and some say that like Marmite, you love it or hate it.

The album lasts for just under 50 minutes and I have to admit I have seldom listened to it in one go. Because the sound is so distinctive, there is the problem of is being rather ?samey?, and I prefer to dip in to it, going straight to the tracks I prefer.

?Brace yourself cos this goes deep?.

The album opens with ?Turn The Page?, which acts as an introduction rather than a track in its own right, with no real melody, just Mike rapping/talking over a beat about life in general. But the best is yet to come.

This goes straight into ?Has it come to this??, the first single to be released, which was a big underground hit last summer. It?s catchy, has a chorus you can sing along to, and class lyrics like ?sex drugs and on the dole?. This is one of my favourite tracks off the album. The sample is performed by Keith Hammond

?This aint your archetypal street sound?

?Let?s Pus
h Things Forward? was also released as a single and has a great trumpet intro. It?s quite a laidback track with a two step beat you can nod your head along to.

?You say that everything sounds the same
then you go buy them
there?s no excuses my friend
let?s push things forward?

Throughout the album, Mike Skinner has digs at the commercial garage scene, and the ?anthems? which artists like the Artful Dodger make. Recurring themes are drugs, depression and drinking.

?Sharp Darts? is next and is something of a filler and only one and a half minutes. I am not keen on this at all and find it repetitive and irritating.

?Round here nothing seems to change
Same old thing every day?.

?Same Old Thing? is about the repetitiveness of life, going out drinking because there?s nothing else to do, watching the football, over and over until your whole life has gone and you don?t know where. There?s a nice sung chorus which works well.

?Geezers need excitement
if their lives don?t provide it, they?ll incite violence
common sense, simple common sense?.

?Geezers need excitement? is about blokes getting violent. It?s an energetic track with a fast tempo.

?I didn?t know that it was over
Till it was too late.
But if I ever needed you,
would you be there??

?It?s too late? is another favourite, and although you can hardly call it a ballad, it?s as close as you?re going to get. The chorus blends Mike Skinners surprisingly good singing voice, with the female vocals of Jacqueline Rawe to create a nice effect. It?s a sad tale about a bloke being dumped by his girlfriend after neglecting her and he?s gutted- ?now nothing holds significant, nothing now is relevant ?.

?Too Much Brandy? strike a bit close to home, about, guess what, a fella drinking too much brandy. The beat reminds me of being pissed, or ?feeling a bit mangled? as the streets put it so eloquently.


?Don?t Mug Yourself? is the latest single release which is basically Mike and a mate having a chat about the girl he met the night before and how he should play it. His mates are telling him he?s acting like a doormat and encourage him to play hard to get. This is a faster song and ends with a nice bit of them joking about, not realising the recording is still going on. If you wanted to know what blokes talk about when there are no women around, now you know.

The Irony Of It All always makes me laugh. It?s a tale of two blokes- Terry, the ?law abiding? heavy drinker, who loves nothing more than to go out, get wrecked and get into fights. Tim, who stays in, smokes weed, plays on the playstation and has chats about the meaning of life, but is branded a criminal. It?s a clever and fun satire presenting arguments for decriminalising cannabis and comparing it to the vast problems that alcohol causes. The two characters Skinner creates may be stereotypes (Terry the thug and Tim, the weedy engineering graduate) but people like that do exist and you might recognise them.

?Weak become heroes, and the stars align?.

?Weak Become Heroes? is another of the best tracks, a melancholy look at taking Ecstasy and the effects it has. Softer tones are used in this track and in my opinion, it?s not glorifying drugs but just telling it how it is. Anyone who has been out clubbing and maybe dabbled a bit in certain dubious substances will recognise the things talked about in Weak Become Heroes. Not that I would, of course.

?Stay Positive? closes the album with a now familiar strong beat. It?s words of comfort to keep you going and give you hope when you have hit rock bottom. It?s an appropriate way to close an album that has touched on depressing themes and leaves you feeling hopeful and encourages you to keep striving for your dream. It tells of how people who tell you to ?stop dreaming? are just jealous because they have given up on theirs.


Overall, I think this is a great and original album. I have to be in the right mood to listen to it, but it has a lot of energy and is a very fresh sound, talking about things that matter to me and a lot of other people. If you are a hot shot lawyer with potloads of cash, a mortgage and 2.4 children, you probably won?t relate to this album. But if you are down on the streets man, have ever been unemployed, got pissed or broken up with someone you cared about, you will know where Mike Skinner comes from.

I will be interested to hear the follow up to this album, and hope it contains collaborations with other artists, for I think that is what is needed to ensure the survival of the streets.

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