Review 111 was the excellent Goodbye Mr MacKenzie, but Rhona, John and Shirley had gone so Martin, Fin and Kelly needed a re-think.
They re-emerged with Stacey Chavis on vocals as Isa & the Filthy Tongues and released two albums before they were back as the three of them and returned as the Filthy Tongues. They have released three albums that are a trilogy about their home city of Edinburgh, and this was the final one released earlier this year.
Between this album and its predecessor, we have all lived through covid and Gas Mask Blues reflects those times a sinister hypnotic song with a chorus that logs into your brain and that slides over you and Martins spoken words at the end weaving through the beat before a final whiff of the chorus, Pandemic Pete we have zombies, Diamond Dogs, vampires, bankers and the Bank of England, you decide on the bad ones there.
Tricky Nicky with a riff that comes in thirty seconds in as it broods and then the band go for it one minute in, Martin sings “What the fuck.” This album from start to finish is a what the fuck moment.
Hang My Head but not in shame they sing, this is anthem like, it’s a sound of a song to fill arenas, it won’t and that is a tragedy.
Nightwalker slows us down with keyboards and electronics but no less intense.
The title track has beats, mandolins (maybe) and is a carousel of music, over six minutes and not a second wasted.
It’s Gonna Wash has a sense of moving on and Here Comes the Wave just listen to that guitar and thumping drums, its dirty, big, and magical. Kingdom of Gold is a wonderful end to this trilogy a sense of more to come.
2023 I have read a lot about men who have made music together for years coming back to deliver a wonderful album, forget The Stones and listen to three men who have never let us down and are still delivering.
10/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: Gas Mask Blues