Pretty much everything sofarsideways says, we're just holding them up to the standard they themselves have said we should hold them to! I too am vexed. The remain campaign was based on fact and the consequences of leaving were laid out, but you're never going to win against outright lies of promising the moon on a stick. Yes, many poorer areas of the UK had been fucked over as a result of tory austerity, including Wales, but we got by far the biggest share of EU funding... anyway, this is just relitigating something that is in the past and we can't go back. It is the sheer apathy of someone who considers himself such a political animal that really sticks in the craw... bad james! A coal in the stocking for you.

Ugh! I hope to god not.

When did they say that?

The Manics have always criticised Liberal self indulgence as much as they have Conserativism, does nobody remember the attacks on animal rights activists, AIDS hypocrisy, new age travellers, political correctness? Anyone furious that they failed to follow the accepted liberal view on Brexit must have been deluding themselves for years about who the band are.

Who knows what political take the new songs will have. I suspect they will annoy many of us. But if you want a band who just parrot the current fashionable liberal talking points, and you're not willing to accept that they may see things differently from you, maybe it is time to walk away.

Other than writing, commenting and creating songs about politics for 40 odd years now? It is implied. And the one thing they taught me above all else is to never be bloody apathetic. If you believe that a remain vote was just a fashionable liberal indulgence then we have nothing more to discuss. Good day, Sir/Madam.

2014 for one (of many) examples

I think you've missed the point somewhat. It's not about who he voted for or who he didn't vote for. It's about him not being arsed to vote because that's whats galling.

I couldn't care less which way James would have voted, that's his business. What's lowered my opinion of him is that he didn't vote at all and then gave a shite excuse about people being deserving of his vote when it wasn't about voting for a person.

The fact that he was in one of the most affected groups of people (small to mid sized touring bands whose income was heavily hit by Brexit) makes it even worse.

I don't think anyone is deluded enough to think that the band mean anything anymore (if they ever did) they're not in 'show integrity' they're in 'show business'.

Let’s hope they release a new single and derail this politics chat! I’d much prefer moaning about how songs sound like it’s not war than what James did/didn’t vote for.

Is there a post with links to all the available editions of the new album?

Fair enough but I think your in a minority there. Can you imagine the reaction if James had said "Yes I voted for Brexit and I'm bloody proud of it"!!!!!

I think you're wrong about their integrity though, the way they wrestle with these things, in public, suggests they do still really mean it maaan. James had no need to tell anyone about any of this, he could have just lied or evaded the question, the same way the band could just parrot the acceptable liberal view and fly the acceptable flags for an easy showbiz life.

But they don't, they continue to struggle to find a meaning in life, they constantly contradict themselves and they actively annoy their mostly left wing liberal fanbase by refusing to support some causes or take a definitive "side" on some issues. Why would you do that if you didn't still care?

That said, I thought the most contraversial thing in that interview was Nicky's comment that they should have gone straight from SATT to PFAYM and not made JFPL! Like, what the fuck bro!

On the Naughty Step - The new solo album from James Dean Bradfield

On the Naughty Step
(It’s Not Apathy) I Just Hate Both Campaigns
I Gave Them the Respect They Deserved
In the Doghouse
Legitimising A False Choice Was Just Too Emetic
Regret / Terger
7 out of 10 (Song for Jeremy Corbyn)
Brain Tantrum
Pious in Retrospect
Postcognitivism in the Coalition
No Mo’ Mojo Interviews Fo’ A Mo or So

Available on CD, LP, strictly ltd EU-Blue Vinyl and ‘Please Forgive Me’-rose-red cassette.

Amazing.

I agree with your post and the last bit is weird if Nicky said that.

It also says in the mojo interview:

"For Wire and guitarist James Dean Bradfield, part of the key to the band’s longevity is an ingrained pessimism, always having an eye on defeat and decline even at their commercial peak in the mid-90s"

Nicky also says:

“It’s about the power to self-immolate on social media,” he explains, snapping his fingers. “Just like that. I worry I have the destructive tendency to actually enjoy doing it. If you’re seeking oblivion, it feels like an attractive proposal at times."


James was being honest so he mentions he hadn't voted to an interviewer just before the album release.

So are they ingraining more pessimism or feeding the interviewer clues of the album.

The band have always had a weird relationship with JPFL, Nick talked about not releasing it and burying the acetates before the release. Perhaps it also felt like grave robbing despite there being a genuine rationale to use the lyrics that Richey gave to them. Perhaps it has something to do with it being better received by critics and the fan base than the two albums that sandwich it. I do also wonder if some of the Edwards family did not wholly approve of the endeavour , tarnishing it in retrospect. It's a wonderfully tight impactful album with little to no fat on it that stands next to the big two or slightly below it next to Futurology. If any album in the Manics back catalogue should have been skipped, PFAYM (with the exception of Golden Platitudes) is the easy choice by far.

Also, thank god for Porco!

Nick seems to be the only one who has an issue with it, he’s always described it as James idea and vision, and seemed ambiguous about it from the off. Maybe it did feel wrong in the end, using Richey’s words without him being there to give approval for the cuts and edits that they made?

He’s also ambivalent about RTF, another one of my favourites, in that interview, saying he finds it difficult to listen to it anymore. Guess that means we won’t be getting anything from those two albums on the tour!

I think a far more straightforward answer is that Nicky believes PFAYM would have been more commerically successful if it followed on directly from SATT. They'd had a big hit with YLAINE, moderate radio play with Autumnsong and so commercially it would make sense to follow up with an album that would be another commercial effort. Nicky probably still thinks that PFAYM is the greatest thing since sliced pan instead of an overproduced attempt at a polished turd, and so I can imagine him thinking they missed out on 'mass communication' because they created proper art in between those two albums.

If you think there was discomfort at grave robbing or anything I think one should remember that they were happy capitalising on Richey's image and lyrics in Judge Yr'self and using the sacroscant 'folder lyrics' in Picturesque.

Probably the right time to resurrect this album ranking by James:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/rank...eet-preachers/

probably because they know that their mostly left wing liberal fanbase will buy whatever they put out regardless of what they say, regardless of the quality and they'll buy multiple copies of it.

They need to stay on the fence in some areas so as not to alienate the people that come to the gigs in their football jerseys, turn their back to the stage and drink and talk/shout loudly through songs that they don't know and only really come alive to sing 'we only want to get drunk' and bash into people as they pogo around like they're in a mosh pit.

As for integrity, still snowing in sapporo, speaks volumes to that.....