Skint & Demoralised | A Review of Love, And Other Catastrophes

Originality and Appeal, these are the elements that we look for here at Indie Blog Shot and Skint & Demoralised has it in spades. The band’s front man Matt Abbott of the West Yorkshire area, began his career as a writer and performer of poetry. After some of his poetry was heard by the producer MiNI dOG via Abbott’s MySpace page, the two began to work together in creating one of the most original albums to ‘not’ come out in years. Love, And Other Catastrophes has been delayed in its release for quite some time and has been in the works since early 2007. Abbott’s album does not come out until early 2010, but some have had the fortune to hear it in its entirety. The album itself jumps between strictly spoken word poetry interludes and a hybrid poetry interlaced with varying styles of background music, making the album a wonderfully exotic mess. Abbott’s misanthropic lyrical content accompanied by his incredibly thick accent creates an extraordinary experience for the listener. With lines like, “Are we always going to be single, we drink what we like, think what we like, go out for a dance and mingle”, in the track It’s Only Been A Week with Abbott’s accent in lead the song becomes instantly memorable. Lyrics such as these fill Love, And Other Catastrophes, it’s originality and subversive appeal are unquestionable. Key tracks off of this album are, You Probably Don’t Even Realise When You Do The Things I Love The Most, Only Lust Ignores Violence, A Few Quiet Drinks (The Long Night That Lies Ahead) and It’s Only Been A Week.

Track List for Love, And Other Catastrophes
1. Let’s Get Lost
2. LS11 OES
3. The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds
4. You Probably Don’t Even Realise When You Do The Things I Love The Most
5. Only Lust Ignores Violence
6. This Song Is Definitely About You
7. A Few Quiet Drinks (The Long Night That Lies Ahead)
8. Three More Days (Voluntary Confinement Intro)
9. It’s Only Been A Week
10. Red Lipstick
11. One Way Avenue Blues
12. Failing To See The Attraction
13. Withdrawal Symptoms