Additional information
Audio Remixer: Brent Lambert. Liner Note Author: Jim Bob . Photographer: Holly Morrison. As part of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Jim Bob gained fame for his punk/glam rabble-rousers that were half U.K.-specific puns, half savage portraits of a rotting nation. On his own, Jim Bob carved out a calmer but still sharp route on various solo and collaborative releases, given an overview on this often enjoyable release. Those familiar with his hectoring Carter USM days would be most surprised by his gentler singing here, far more easygoing and conventionally tuneful but sometimes tinged with the bite of old. That bite still resides in his subject matter and approach, though -- if songs like "Candy Floss" and the great "The Mufty Day Riots" are, at least sonically, cheap and cheery variations of the bigger Carter USM stompers, it's more a matter of degree, while the sense of rain-drenched seaside resorts and broken-down clubs on songs like "A Bad Day" comes through in the romantic but melancholy performances, often keyboard-led. Meanwhile, his gimlet-eyed but always emotive portrait of Britain's frustrated and screwed-over populace continues song for song, whether talking about being only the victim of a "so-so crime" or simply the frustrations of petty authority and small-mindedness in general. ~ Ned Raggett
