After two celebrated EPs, Aidan Smith decided to move from Twisted Nerve to Analogue Catalogue and, with the change of labels, upgrade from a 4-track to a professional studio for his debut album. Fortunately, the ramshackle nature of his approach has not been tainted.Smith manages to blend jauntiness and tragedy with some ease and is more than able to seamlessly negotiate between the every day humour of Jam Will Suffice and dark tales of violence like The Cuckold, without ever letting his smile slip. In fact, Smith plays the latter track with so much levity that the listener may initially miss the fact that the song is actually a bitter story of suicide.
Yet, Fancy Barrel is not just some throwaway comedy album. The opening track, Aeroplanes, Pigs etc, offers some excellent jazz drumming, whilst the sinister pseudo-lounge core of Bert’s Violent Rage is another example of Smith’s slightly skewed approach to songwriting.
Whether elated or afflicted, Fancy Barrel proves that Smith is a talent without any obvious limitations.
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