Music > Album Reviews

Skinny Lister - Down On Deptford Broadway

23/10/20

Recorded in 2013 and officially released in 2015, …. Deptford Broadway was the breakthrough album for the folk-punk favourites. To mark its fifth anniversary, here it is reissued with new artwork and expanded to include demo versions of the tunes.

On first listen, Skinny Lister bear a passing similarity to the nu-folk likes of the Mumfords. Taking their cues from the likes of the Pogues and Levellers, in reality this lot have more in common the folk-punk/anti-folk likes of Dropkick Murphys, Roughneck Riot or the much missed Bootscraper.

Being late to the Skinny Lister party I am familiar with fan favourites like Trouble On Oxford Street, Cathy and Six Whiskies from gigs but this is the first time I have heard the studio versions. The recordings don’t deliver the explosive energy rush of the live show – quite – but still bring joy. I challenge anyone not to raise a smile at Bold As Brass, This Is War or, well, pretty much any of the tracks on here.

An almost perfect antidote to a blustery autumn day when the news is unremittingly grim, repeated listens will surely help cope with the hard, hard winter that seems inevitable…