Reverend & the Makers are known for a sound that is characterised by a hotpot of indie pop, electronica and Madchester vibes with witty and pithy lyrics, delivered in a Yorkshire accent, that venture beyond the subjects of getting hammered and hanging out. Something like Kasabian with a raised IQ or Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip with a bit more swing about them.
New album, ThirtyTwo, is a slightly different take on their sound, with added ska among other flavours, but it is still most certainly recognisable as John McClure and his band of musical renegades. “The Devil’s Radio” and “Nostalgia”, with its pithy take on the music industry’s keenness to continually repackage the past (“we love it now, we hated it back then”), have more than a dash of up-tempo Jimmy Cliff and are both likely to blow-up massively on Reverend and the Makers' forthcoming UK tour. The excellent and anthemic “Time” is a call to get off your backside, put down your X-Box and engage with real life and dips into the political engagement to which the band are no strangers without coming across as overly preachy. Meanwhile “Your Girl” marries lyrics about relationship politics to a sound that is reminiscent of the Chemical Brothers’ 1996 classic “Setting Sun”.
Witty lyrics sung in an accent that isn’t either cod American or an approximation of Ali G-speak and a thumping beat, backed up with plenty of hooks, suggest that ThirtyTwo will follow Reverend and the Makers’ previous three albums into the UK top 20. However, there does seem to be a certain something missing for this album for it to be viewed as a classic in years to come. Nevertheless, there’s plenty to get your hips swaying and your feet shuffling onto the dance floor in 2014.
