Whilst ‘return to form’ is an over-used phrase in the world of music reviewage, it’s bang on the money here. English folk-punkers The Levellers have been in a bit of a trough of late, but with LFTU you get the sense of a band completely revitalised and ready to face the next chapter in their history.
Formed in 1988, the band’s halcyon years ended around 2000, but the band is a massive draw on the live circuit (they host their own outdoor festival, Beautiful Days, every summer in the UK), and it’s this popularity that has seen them continue to prosper even in the face of indifference from the wider record buying public. If there was any justice, the situation would all change with Letters…,comfortably the best release from the band in nearly a decade and a half. It’s a record that sees them, on tracks like the coruscating Eyes Wide, Burn America Burn or opener The Cholera Well regaining some of the righteous anger that was formerly such a trademark. There really isn’t a bad track on offer here, and in Behold a Pale Rider the band has recorded a song that equals (and possibly betters) anything they’ve recorded since 1993. There’s very little out there at the moment that presents sincerity of belief and musical integrity as a calling card, but if that sounds like the sort of thing that might provide your ears with some relief in this age of cancerous blights on the soundscape like Jet and Nickelback, then I implore you to get out and get this now. In fact buy enough copies to distribute to all your loved ones – they’ll thank you for it.
