Track Review: The Johnnie Squizzercrow Experiment – ‘And He Killed A Cyclist In Norwich’

As the old quote says, “If you don’t laugh at yourself, you could be missing out on the best joke of all time”.  Most bands take themselves far too seriously; there is a fine line between bands that everyone laughs with (Half Man Half Biscuit) and those that everyone laughs at (Kasabian).

Straight out of nowhere comes The Johnnie Squizzercrow Experiment.  Two boys and two girls playing a song that’s sinister, cheeky, tuneful and witty all at the same time.  The lyrics are delivered with a Lydonesque sneer, the music chugs away like heavy metal wind farms.

However, this music has a serious, political intent.  The song is a barbed, bitter attack on the status quo.  Not the band, but those in power – those who use power against us.  Like Fat White Family, there is something deep behind the jokes and bluster.  Metal heads will be genuinely offended, but they are most of the time.  This is a grim face wearing a red nose.

‘And He Killed A Cyclist In Norwich’ is the aural equivalent of a water pistol through an A and R person’s letterbox.  Laugh now, love later.

You can find ‘And He Killed A Cyclist In Norwich’ on JSE’s album God Is On The Case, out now.

 

 

Kev McCready

@KevMcCready

Mari Lane

Mari Lane

Editor, London. Likes: Kathleen Hanna, 6Music, live music in the sunshine. Dislikes: Sexism, pineapples, the misuse of apostrophes.