The Streets

Wow. I love it when a band makes me an instant fan, and that’s just happened with the UK group “The Streets”. It’s a matter of days before I head to Tower Records to load up on their new album “A Grand Don’t Come For Free”.

I first heard the song “Dry Your Eyes” on XM channel U-Pop and I didn’t know what to make of a Cockney dude rapping out the story of his girlfriend breaking up with him in real-time. But when the chorus eased in I started to catch the feeling of the band; street smart with heart. By the time the song was over I wanted to hear the it again. It was catchy and poignant and ever-so close to home.

The next song I heard was “Blinded by the Light” (not the tune by Manford Mann) – a pulsing, buzzing, off-balance number that rings with the feel of late nights at bars, senses numbed by alcohol and drugs. The soft, brassy background singers provide a surreal counterbalance to the lead singer’s descent into oblivion.

If the first two songs I heard on U-Pop were downers, the song “Could Well Be In” gave a glimmer of hope. Our Cockney singer is chattin’ wif a bird in a bar and he thinks that he might be getting somewhere, after all, he’s getting all the right signs… according to the television:

CHORUS:
I saw this thing on ITV the other week,
Said, that if she played with her hair, she’s probably keen
She’s playin with her hair, well regularly,
So i reckon i could well be in.

Oh yeah…. the playing-with-the-hair ploy. Dude, you are SO in!

Of course the fourth (and currently final) song that I heard from The Streets is called “Fit But You Know It” has our boy Elroy trading attitude with an attractive girl with a fake tan (“See I reckon you’re about an 8 or a 9, Maybe even 9 and a half in four beers time”) in the line at a Fish & Chips restaurant. Classy huh? And the best part is that she wasn’t even really looking at him in the first place. That’s okay though, he shrugs it off like a complete idiot.

If you’re a complete idiot with girls and want to practice your Cockney accent this is the album for you:

“A Grand Don’t Come For Free” by The Streets.

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