(A&M UK)
Dodgy's third CD, Free Peace Sweet, is a dramatic step away from the more measured and melodic tones of previous albums. The complexities of the second album (_Homegrown) the precise, Beatlesque first album Dodgy Album, are now brushed aside by a big bad rock sound. This is in direct contrast to the current popularity of the sound that they pioneered back in the days when Cobain was king. At the time, they couldn't give away copies of the gorgeous pure pop Dodgy Album.
Songs like "In A Room" roar and bluster with dynamite basslines, thundering drums and heavy, riffing guitar. The lyrics take a back seat compared to former Dodgy work, the power trio that was always threatening to burst from within their mild-mannered sixties pop persona has now done so. The ghost of Keith Moon has possessed Matthew Priest to good effect.
"Jack The Lad" recalls the Who's manic rock assault and from what I can gather, the lyrics appear to refer to a certain lad's excess and bad behaviour leading to the inwevitable. Do they mean...surely not?
In striking contrast to the general rocking theme of the album are gentle ballads such as "Long Life". This in particular might have been performed by the Carpenters, and that is a measure of what a great tune it is. These gentler tunes seem to be Nigel directly addressing his wife and child; for example, "One Of Those Rivers" mentions the heartache of touring with his loved ones at home. A major contrast indeed.
"Good Enough" which was a major UK hit single and had postmen whistling around the country for weeks, is actually an excellent attempt at an early seventies style of soul which was deified by the Northern Soul UK youth subculture back then. The lyric is quite banal but the song is so infectious it really doesn't matter. It stands out as the only soul song the band have ever written.
As always the positivity of the band stands out, and if Dale Carnegie had smoked dope and travelled about in a VW microbus, he might have written lyrics like these.
Dodgy have always had one or two tracks in their repertoire which resemble tripped-out cavernous dub, and there are a couple on this disc as well. "U.K.R.I.P." pauses from the cheerfulness present elsewhere, in order to have an almighty whinge about the bad state of the nation - rich vs poor, black vs white and so on. Extremely worthy, and moreover, quite impressive at a high amount of decibels.
All in all then, Free Peace Sweet is a super effort from the Dodgy chaps, proving their versatility, their chartworthiness, but most of all that they can be evil rock beasts like the best of 'em.
