Grand Don't Come For Free, A [PA] - Streets (The) > Reviews > Chav Chic!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Pure Genius !
Disadvantages:	Not to everyone's taste

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I didn't think for one second that I would like The Streets. The very concept of some bloke talking about his boring life over music just made me shudder with dread. "I hear people talking about their boring lives all the time," thought I, "why on earth would I want to buy an album full of someone I don't even know doing it?".

So I was really surprised to discover that I really enjoyed hearing "Dry Your Eyes" on the radio, sniggering to myself every time I heard the line "pushing my hand away to my chest...from hers", and being genuinely touched by the lyrics.

It was this song, and this song only that made me force my boyfriend and my sister to watch their set at Leeds Festival last year. It was fantastic. Festival crowds are notoriously difficult audiences (especially Leeds and Reading ones, where half the people there have spent the whole of the previous night weeing into bottles just to throw at you if they don't "approve" of your type of music...what a tradition eh?!). I was amazed that The Streets had signed up for the festival at all, as it is traditionally a rock festival, and talking about lad's holidays to music certainly doesn't qualify as rock.

But they braved the bottles of wee. And they were fantastic. They were supremely confident, they performed incredibly well and they won over the whole crowd (either that or everyone ran out of wee). I must admit, I was very impressed. The following week, I ran out and got myself a copy of "A Grand Don't Come For Free".

The first time I played the album, I wasn't too keen on it. I had it playing in the background while I was cooking and chattering away to my boyfriend. As background music, the album is a total failure. Because of my bad experience of the album, it took a back seat in my music collection. Then I decided to walk to work with it in my CD player (in the days before I had my beautiful iPod!). Walking to work is a great opportunity for me to listen to music, and I always find that, because I know my route so well, I concentrate entierly on whatever I'm listening to. Giving "A Grand Don't Come For Free" my undivided attention for the first time, I was completely blown away.

The whole album is full of surprises, little things that make you giggle, and huge wedges of it that ring very uncomfortably true. The honest and unusual lyrics are nothing short of poetry. I have listened to "A Grand Don't Come For Free" countless times now, and every time I notice something else in the music that makes me smile.

The album is opened with the driving "It Was Supposed to be so Easy", which on first hearing is a little repetative and not easy to warm to. However, a close inspection of the lyrics left me sniggering as a number of horribly familiar situations present themselves - the "Insuffcient Funds" message at the cashpoint, mobile phone batteries dying in the middle of phone calls. At the end of this track, £1000 goes missing, hence the title of the album and a large slice of the story told throughout the album.

Over the course of the album, we're treated to accounts of lad's holidays (Fit But You Know It), relationships getting started (Could Well Be In), silly arguments with girlfriends (Get Out of My House), cheating on girlfriends (Such a Twat), drugs (Blinded by the Lights), gambling (Not Addicted) and relationships breaking up (Dry Your Eyes). All of the topics are dealt with with honesty and observational wit, and discussed somewhat tunelessly over a variety of different backings, all of which seem very appropriate to their individual subject matters - the fast-paced and excitable backing to "Fit But You Know It" matches the lad's holiday subject matter just as perfectly as the slightly threatening, but also tired sounding backing to "Get Out of My House" pinpoints the atmosphere of an argument in a relationship.

Admittedly, none of The Streets' work will ever be considered that of musical genius. The music itself is mediocre at best. I would say, though that Mike Skinner is the poet laureate for my generation. All this from someone who failed GCSE english and looks like a typical "chav". This amazing album, if nothing else, should be a great lesson for a lot of people in not judging a book by its cover.

So, would I recommend "A Grand Don't Come for Free"? Well, if you're after an amazing musical experience, filled with beautiful harmonies and a voice which makes your heart melt, then no, this certainly isn't the album for you. There isn't one track on the album (with the possible exception of the "romantic" Dry Your Eyes) which is worth listening to to enjoy the music. If you like a little bit of brain behind your music, something that will make you snigger with recognition and keep replaying in your mind all day, then it might just be worth having a look at The Streets.