Larrikin Love 'Happy as Annie'
22 August 2006
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Throughout 2005 a phenomenon stirred London’s bars and disparate venues in the form of Twickenham troubadours Larrikin Love, as their wildly eclectic and wonderfully ambitious travelling carnival caused a sensation everywhere it touched; earning a considerable word of mouth fan base in the process. It is important to remember, however, that Larrikin Love are not simply another ‘London band’ as many have tried to pigeonhole them. They’re a band without geography and all the connotations that can come to belonging to a particular ‘scene.’ Speaking to anyone involved with Larrikin for a second will reveal a startlingly refreshing ambition to break with convention.Originating as a creative outlet for Edward Larrikin’s literary aspirations, songs such as debut single ‘Little Boy Lost/Six Queens’ are grounded in a real sense of poetry and a feeling of rebellion, of upheaval and of escape from the monotony of our nine-to-five society. It is therefore understandable that comparisons with Shane Macgowan and even Morrissey have been levelled at Edward, yet as one poster on a message board aptly put it ‘The words are less Morrissey and more Wilde.’ In such a way, it is entirely possible to say that the inspiration for many of the songs to feature on the debut long player planned for the summer comes from pop culture circa 1894 as it does 1984.The perfect musical backdrop for Edward Larrikin’s tales of romance and whimsy is created by Micko Larkin (guitar), Alfie Ambrose (bass) and Coz Kerrigan (drums) who achieve the considerable feat of making three men with three instruments sound like a raggedly riotous orchestra, for whom no musical discipline seems to be a step too far. In fact, the best testament to the originality and vitality of the wonderful, jaunty, stomping racket created is that it is quite impossible to define with a single word or phrase. Indeed, Larrikin Love are a band not afraid to declare their influences, yet without ever coming close to being derivative or copyist. It is the sheer range of different genres and ideas combined in everything they do which makes that very folly impossible; and it is for exactly the same reason that they sound like no-one else, past or present. Sure – there are elements of the Pogues’ folk-clatter and vigour evident in Larrikin Love songs, but any comparison is more in terms of vision and ideal than actual musical merit. Similarly, live favourite ‘Meet Me by the Getaway Car’ may have a ragga bass rumble that Jah Wobble would skank over hot coals for, yet it is hard to imagine Bob Marley ever singing songs of bathing suits and eating cigarettes the like of which crop up in ‘Downing Street Kindling.’In that very song, Edward Larrikin declares ‘everything that I adore came well before 1984.’ It’s a fairly safe bet to say that there are thousands of people across the country who would disagree with that statement vehemently upon hearing Larrikin Love – a band looking at the past but making huge steps forward. Larrikin Love are for every time, everyone and everywhere; but most importantly – for here and for now. Larrikin Love 'Happy as Annie'Videos you might like
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