CD: Wild Billy Childish & CTMF - Acorn Man

Wild Billy Childish has released well over a hundred albums (as well as numerous art projects) since the late 70s and so it's quite a shock to discover on Acorn Man that his muse doesn’t seem ready to desert him any time soon. This is all the more surprising given that the Childish world view ends in the pre-psychedelic mid-60s and is dominated by no-nonsense garage rock – with absolutely no truck with any musical developments since that time.

Opening track, “It’s So Hard To Be Happy” is lively Nuggets-influenced stuff that sounds like Archie Solomons (from the TV series Peaky Blinders) fronting a Star Club-era Beatles and sets the tone for the rest of the album. There are plenty of variations on this theme though, and “Acorn Man” and “He Wore a Pagan Robe” could easily have come from that other great English eccentric, Julian Cope. If he was backed by 60s garage rock heroes the Count Five.

Despite being the star-turn, Acorn Man isn’t just a showcase for the talents of Billy Childish with singing duties often shared with bass player Nurse Nancy. In fact, she also takes up lead vocals to great effect on the excellent “Zero Emission”, where she rips into soulless TOWIE culture, and “What Is this False Life You’re Leading”, an anthem for wronged girlfriends everywhere. However, the highlight of Acorn Man is recent single “Punk Rock Enough for Me”, where Billy extols all the things he digs and proclaims them “punk rock enough for me”. Needless to say, they are all a bit esoteric and include: the Beatles without George Martin, Leadbelly in a field, Dostoyevsky, a cup of tea and Gogol. However, it’s a song that neatly sums up Childish’s somewhat perverse world view – and that’s a pleasant change from rabid, bling-fueled consumerism, at least.