Incredibly, ‘The Scenic Route’ (order via Bandcamp ">here) is Dropkick’s 16th album. Released via Bobo Integral Records, the Scottish band claims it’s their ‘most accomplished, coherent and fully realised collection of songs to date’.
With a melody Norman Blake would be proud to call his own, ‘Feeling Never Goes Away’ opens the album with a joyous, celebratory tone: ‘I’m alive today, I hope this feelng never goes away’. Jangly guitar hooks signal the introduction of ‘Catching On’, a romantic song that looks back at first meetings and being ‘so far from home’. The guitars are then turned up on ‘Disappearing’, a track that also features what sounds like a hammond organ and writing a story: ‘Once I’ve finished, I’ll amend it so it’s more exciting at the start’.
‘I’m Over You, Goodbye’ is a self-aware break-up song that begins with an acidic tone (‘Just as well you’re drifting out of sight’) before backing down and trying to focus on the positive memories: ‘Hopefully the music in me complements every image burned inside your brain’. There are Crowded House vibes running through the heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics and sound of ‘For Too Long’: ‘Losing track of time, can’t explain my thoughts’. ‘Tomorrow’ is a short and sweet song about losing confidence: ‘I won’t find the answers by asking you the questions’.
‘Broken”s piano-led opening makes way for anthemic drums and more tales of heartbreak (‘All was broken from the start’) and the closing ‘You’ll Always Be There’ is altogether more sombre: ‘When it’s time, you’ll always be there in my life’; ‘I should have asked you for your good advice but you always keep it in’.
‘The Scenic Route’ is an album that you’ll love spending time with.