Six years is way beyond an eternity in rock ‘n’ roll, and yes, it has been that long since the release of Be Yourself. Just as well that Jerry Fish sups from a well that is sunk way beneath the topsoil of pop. Once he left the constraints of the four-piece rock format, he found a whole universe of music suddenly become a tangible and touchable prospect: New Orleans jazz, Brazilian funk, noir soundtracks, all manner of odd mondo scenes and black mambo jive. An Emotional Fish used to cover Tom’s ‘Raindogs’; The Mudbug Club might reject it as too obvious.
On that note, the opening ‘The Hole In The Boat’ is a swampy seafood-fed shuffle with Ribot-like guitar and zombie cardsharp vocal from Mr Fish. Jim Jarmusch would pawn his brothel creepers for the rights. Even more exotic is the single ‘Back To Before’, a delicate waltz around the ballroom of lost romance that’s stitched with singing saws, pedal steel and tinkertoy piano, while Fish’s latest dancing partner Carol Keogh contributes a truly remarkable turn somewhere between Patsy Cline and Mary Margaret O’Hara. One expects Lewis Carroll to pop his head through the curtains inquiring after a certain Miss Liddell. Another duet, ‘Hell Or Heaven Sent’, featuring Imelda May, takes the form of a sweltering motel chronicle halfway between Imelda May, while ‘Rogue Melody’ is a slow C&W sway with Mariachi brass and a welcome reprise from Ms Keogh.
Elsewhere, on tunes like ‘It Takes Balls To Be A Butterfly’ (nice title), Mr Fish swaggers in a Willie DeVille way that suggests he really needs a Hollywood agent. The jury’s still out on whether his force of personality and the immaculate cut of the band compensate for the odd wanting song (time will tell how ‘Baby You Are In Or You’re Out’ wears with repeated plays). But such misgivings are rare. The closing ‘Where The Sun Don’t Shine’ and instrumental title tune deserve to accompany the end credits of some arthouse masterpiece. The Beautiful Untrue is one of those records that raises the cool in the room without breaking a sweat.
Key Track: ‘The Hole In The Boat’