Band of the Underhand - A Cheap Ride to Heaven (2024)

South London Calling…. Richard David reviews the latest from the self-described ‘Soulful rock’n’roll band from the Old Kent Rd’.

”A Cheap Ride to Heaven” is the latest album from South London-based Band of The Underhand. It’s one which firmly establishes them as one of the capital’s premier outfits, when it comes to emotive material laced with political disillusionment and the often agonising reality of life lessons. Make no mistake, this is grown-up music which draws on classic influences, whilst retaining an overall sound and identity which is immediately recognisable to long term fans.

Superbly produced by Pat Collier at Perry Vale Studios, it’s filled with intriguing soundscapes, deft musical construction and verve, whilst never straying too far from memorable melodies and hook lines. This is a band which intrinsically knows its own strengths and deploys them to maximum impact.

The album opens with the powerful Clash-like ”Perfect World”, complete with samples, driving guitar, drums and some tasty keyboard work. Lyrically, it’s a cry for unity warning against the shallow, oppressive Right Wing political climate, something embodied via the line ”I’m the lyrical sniper up on the roof”. It’s a great opening salvo with some really nice additional percussion elements adding to the texture.

Next up ‘Oh Mary, Oh Mary’ opens up all guitars blazing on a love song, framed once again in today’s anti-social atmosphere. Musically I hear tinges of Springsteen, before concluding samples takes us into a downtempo ballad ”In my mind”. On this, there’s a dreamy, hazy, contemplative mood at hand, built around a ”Don’t bring me down” Beatles-style riff.

It’s classy stuff, complete with descending mellotron flavoured effects and Harrison-like guitar lines. ”Hold on, wait a minute” lifts things back up with another anthemic slab of rebel rock, epitomised via a snarling ”Never met a general I would follow” declaration. ”A good day in my neighbourhood” is a moody, guitar laden reflection on social isolation, with an extended instrumental section towards the end, one which allows the band’s musicianship an ample chance to shine.

”Something heavy going on” opens with a notably Clash/Who style riff before evolving into another warning of the systemic pressures abounding in contemporary society, both at home and internationally. There’s a great glam-rock style middle vocal break with those relentless guitars again making their presence felt. ”Thirteen years of the blues, brought this country to its knees!”. Quite.

The sampled intro of ”When I Drink” sets the tone for a Lou Reed-esque portrait of the sanctuary provided – for some – via respite within a bottle. Some may find it a selective, romanticised exercise but one man’s poison is another’s release and it’s another well constructed song, featuring some lovely piano work and haunting guitar.

”Burning Flame” take us into Reggae/Ska territory with a lead vocal lamenting the loss of recognition sometimes experienced when looking at one’s own reflection in a mirror. It’s a song which conjures up impressions of the late Joe Strummer’s work, with that theme of isolation again raising its head.

”Piece of the Action” features a saxophone intro before lambasting ”politicians who never tell the truth”. It’s another powerful midtempo groove with impressive vocal phrasing augmented by a backdrop of sax, guitars and keyboards. Overall, it’s a kind of South London-meets-the East Street Band- on the foggy banks of the Thames vibe, something you’ll hear no complaints about from these ears.

”Be Another Man” traces the sadness and emptiness felt within the frustration of a broken love affair. Written from a man’s perspective, it’s a song which most of us can probably identify with when we survey the ‘car crash’ wreckage of previous relationships. Like those deceased unions, its abrupt ending signifies the point of no return, which often then crystallises in periods of self-examination and regret. It’s a mature reflection on such matters of the heart, sang with passion and pain.

The album closes with ”Welcome To Paradise”, which for me is the stand out of track. A cracking acoustic and electric guitar intro is underpinned with keyboards, before we take off into a song marked by powerful chord progressions and some terrific rocking guitar passages. This is definitive Band of The Underhand stuff, the trademark of a group which wield together musical craft, lyrical potency and evocative tapestries of sampled sounds and overlays into one roaring beast of adult human defiance, that straddling both political
and emotional boundaries.

It’s an album which reveals more musical layers with each listen and one which will undoubtedly inspire both old and new fans alike. ”A Cheap Ride to Heaven” is anything but cheap, both in scale or content. This is South London rock’n’roll calling inside the grim intellectual sewers of 2024 and if you’ve not heard Band Of The Underhand before, get them on your bucket list now. Highly recommended.