Walking Wounded - Everything But The Girl

...I know of, and although Walking Wounded is a good 6 years old now, the band have actually been going since during the early 80s.

Adept vocalist Tracey Thorn and musician/song writer Ben Watt formed EBTG, all be it for a brief spell, in 1982. The pair were both pursuing solo careers at the time when they met at university and didn't really get it together as an act until the release of their first album in 1984. At the time, the band ...
...decade.

Walking Wounded, an odd combination of drum 'n bass and RnB followed later on that year, so would it shape up against the huge single release that had given it such large expectation?

-- Before today --

… Well, no, is the answer I'm afraid. The album starts off well enough with the mellow drum 'n base track Before Today. Well in fairness it has the tempo and the bass to qualify it as drum 'mn ... more

After watching Brendon Foster and Steve Cramb getting all excited and Geordie about our athletes' fine performances, particularly on Tuesday night during the Commonwealth Games, I thought I'd take a little trip up to the cheerful and hospitable north east of England. Not however up to Newcastle, I'm not planning on ganning that far, not even as high up as Scarborough … trail your finger down the slender curves of our fine country's east coast until you come into Lincolnshire and bump into 'Ull, or rather, Hull, as the rest of us call it.

What on earth are Hull
Doing in a Ciao op? I'm pretty sure that the Carling brewery is somewhere round there, but it isn't beer that I'm reviewing this time (mental note to self, must start reviewing beer soon) but Music. Everything but The Girl in fact. This reputable English duo could probably boast of being their town's biggest musical export, unless there are more bands there than I know of, and although Walking Wounded is a good 6 years old now, the band have actually been going since during the early 80s.

Adept vocalist Tracey Thorn and musician/song writer Ben Watt formed EBTG, all be it for a brief spell, in 1982. The pair were both pursuing solo careers at the time when they met at university and didn't really get it together as an act until the release of their first album in 1984. At the time, the band were pretty alternative in a wash of new romanticism and cheesy Waterman like pop, with their fuse of folk, jazz and contemporary pop. The duo's best moment came for me in the late 80s, when they effectively managed to sweep Rod Stewart's track, I Don't Want To Talk About It off the airwaves as a forgotten hit, having done such a superb cover of it; well it wouldn't have taken much though really would it. However, the song that really shot them to fame with a modern audience was the 1996 club anthem, Missing, whose rehashing by Todd Terry made it one of the most well known dance tracks of the decade.

Walking Wounded, an odd combination of drum 'n bass and RnB followed later on that year, so would it shape up against the huge single release that had given it such large expectation?

-- Before today --

… Well, no, is the answer I'm afraid. The album starts off well enough with the mellow drum 'n base track Before Today. Well in fairness it has the tempo and the bass to qualify it as drum 'mn bass but there's still the strong melodic backbone that all EBTG songs seem to have. Extremely laid back listening though and quite experimental, maybe down a similar road to that of Olive but there aren't enough changes or stunning lyrics in this track to take it out of the background if you've collapsed on the sofa with your mates after a night out clubbing.

-- Wrong --

This is one of the more popular tracks from the LP and was released not long after Missing. Not surprisingly it didn't do nowhere nearly as well, not because it was a bad track cos it's actually quite good, but because it just had too much to live up to. It would probably be just to call this a dance track but it doesn't have the resonant bass drum scaffold of the radio mix, being softer and more subtle, with plenty of choral effects and synthy pads going on in the background. Tracey sings well enough in this 120bpm number and at times it even approaches the realms of jolly - this one didn't need a Todd Terry mix to give it reputation.

-- Single --

In truth this was probably the main reason why I bought the album, as it truly is a gem amongst much of the mediocrity that surrounds it. It's slow, cold and powerful sounding, with a cracking drum loop that Massive Attack would be proud of and Tracey really putting her emotions into the vocals, which is rare on this album: a shame really because she's frequently shown how superb and expressive her voice can be, with formerly mentioned Massive Attack amongst others. There are plenty of eerie and mournful woodwinds and stranger synthie pulses going on in the background whilst the great lyrics take the limelight: "I put my suitcase here for now / turn my TV to the bed / but if no-one calls and I don't speak all day / do I disappear? And look at me without you I'm quite proud of myself / I feel reckless clumsy, like I'm making a mistake." The usual business of pondering over a relationship that's failed whilst trying to exude a sense of pride and independence. This is done extremely successfully and it's such a shame that it's so good in a way as it shows up how average most of the other tracks actually are.

-- Heart is still a child --

What we're dealing with here is pretty run of the mill RnB derived music. The more you listen to this album the more you get the impression that the band don't really care about what they're producing. There are no signs of the sublime quotable lyrics from the last track and the odd accordion sounding instrument in the sidelines doesn't really sit comfortably amongst the analogue kit and synthetic sounding guitars. In fact, Tracey is even sounding quite old and whiny on this one, not good.

-- Walking wounded --

This reasonably well known single is probably the only other great track on this album. Some lovely rich strings roaming distantly in the soundscape, with Thorn sounding pressing and determined over the insistent drums that vary between 2 step DnB and half tempo trip hop. "What do you want from me? / are you trying to punish me? / punish me for loving you, punish me for giving to you"; there's not really a clear theme in the lyrics here, apart from loving someone who doesn't acknowledge or appreciate you. It's the unusual strings and crystal production that gives equal clarity to both bass and treble that earn this song so many marks, rather than lyrical genius.

-- Flipside --

Another extremely below par track with little sense of flow or tonality. The vocal has been double tracked this time though so you get a slight delay between Tracey 1 and Tracey 2, giving the effect of a vocal and whispered mix. Overly obvious inclusions of drum and synth loops don't really help to lift the song. Again aimless and uneventful lyrics with the "I mean a lot, I mean a little" postulation being repeated frequently throughout. Very average.

-- Big deal --

Imagine slow paced drum 'n bass done with an 80's disco kit, well the hand claps and 808 style clippy high hats are both there anyway. This track is one of the better ones from the mix of album material I suppose, as at least it has a bit of presence and percussive depth. Pianos and cone filtered synthesizers overlay the throbbing baseline and Tracey shows a reasonably admirable vocal range in this one, but again she sounds bored and uninterested and it really saddens me when you think of the talent that Watt has as a musician, backed up by their frequently impressive 80s offerings.

-- Mirrorball --

This track is pleasing enough, in fact I quite like it. Pick out the cheerful and optimistic arpeggios from Watt on his guitar, along with the snappy steady RnB accompaniment and you have a decent enough song: "And though some boys adored me / the one I loved ignored me / and caused me envy between me and my best friend"; you get the impression that this song is intended to be autobiographical: although an accomplished lead vocalist Thorn may be, an English rose she definitely ain't, but this song is nostalgic and good lounge chill; it lifts the spirits somewhat.

-- Good cop bad cop --

The last track on the LP apart from a few rather decent remixes that follow. Again, it has the far from stunning melodies and ideas that the majority of the album put forward and although it's got Watt fiddling away with his Roland 808 derived drum machine, layering up quite a few loops at frequent intervals, you really are quite relieved when this album has finished.

I'm sorry that this review hasn't been more detailed but there really isn't a great deal to say about most of the tracks as they are mundane and lack any impact or imagery that you can write home about. The singles are of a decent quality but this is the kind of album that you'd flick straight away to the same tracks time after time. The concept could have been so good, what with the original ideas that it tries to imbed and the obvious talent that this duo have, or as it would seem, used to have.

My advice? Avoid Walking Wounded and just buy Single on 7 inch if you can pull it out from somewhere, it really is a fine track, far superior to anything else that comes on the same disc.

Not recommended

Craig - August 2001

 

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