Description
  1. Cheer Up Britain
  2. Gloucester Road (Booze St Version)

Ex-Newham Council binman (until he got laid off) Euan Hartley was playing solo as Euan Corporal Machine until he assembled various Romford musicians who became the Bombers. Perfecting a life-affirming set mixing the Bombers’ twin guitar and brass knees-ups with the Corporal’s gin-soaked kitchen sink dramas the band started to make regular forays into London where they fell in with the antifolk crowd at Whitechapel’s Rhythm Factory, Soho’s 12 Bar Club and various squat parties.

‘Cheer Up Britain’ lollops in on a tuba-driven skiffle reggae beat and is a passionate call for life amidst the decay of modern Britain. An update on the Gang Of 4’s credo “to Hell with poverty, we’ll get drunk on cheap wine”. If the A side’s a party then the delicate B side ‘Gloucester Road’ is the morning after, the rueful vocals and lovely acoustic guitar showing there’s more to this band than the anarchic bonhomie o their live shows. This is just the first salvo from Corporal Machine & The Bombers. There’s plenty more ammo in their rifles.

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