Secret Meeting score: 78

by Philip Moss

After a minute of swirling, fuzzy feedback, our protagonist – vocalist, Mark Wareing – enters. And over the next four minutes of Stop The Traffic’s swirling, fuzzy feedback (yes, it’s a theme), he performs his best Dr John Cooper Clark or, for those who prefer things a little more contemporary, Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods fame) impression. ‘Stop the traffic, stop the traffic – you can’t hear the radio!’ A statement of intent emphasised by the shuffling Krautrock drums that mimic the repetitive, hypnotically distorted vocals.

Like Preston’s iconic bus station, Ajay Saggar’s brutalist bass lines are unrelenting & drive the entire record. No more so than on the lead single, The London Look – ‘I turn heads in an exorcist way!’ Wareing eloquently snarls as – with its explosive chorus, complemented by soaring backing vocals – this infectious ear worm of a song grooves along with more satirical strut than London Fashion Week.

The influence of Mark E. Smith is also evident throughout and, in many ways, Shut Up! Yo Liberals! – with the same balance of focused rants, harsh guitars and brutal, tub thumping motorik drums – is the better looking sister to The Fall’s 2010, late career highlight, Your Future Our Clutter. It’s also no coincidence that the record is dedicated to The Bard of Prestwich: the record’s best moments – the catchy pop ditty of Half Nelson Headlock and the spoken work soliloquy of closer, Body Language, could quite easily have been scribbled on the back of a fag packet by Mark E’s pen.

This is an album with more venomous kick and spit than a night out on B-Wing at Preston Prison, and the kinda high intensity record that Kasabian would love to make, but don’t have the balls to. It’s an assaulting, gritty listen, and one that you’ll do well to wrestle off your turntable once you’ve dropped the needle.

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