So hands up! Who the fuck believed that there would EVER be another Alarm record that could stand up next to the 80’s incarnation of the band? Well, for the few that believed, you get your ‘told you so’ moment, for those that didn’t, well these words may echo: “You may be seen as false, You may be a king or a vagabond, You may be up, you may be down, You may sit in judgement with the rest of the clowns, You may have love, You may have hate, You may be the president of the United States, but even you can’t sit and hide.”

The Alarm in the 80’s was an amazing band, four lads who shook the world, they rose from the toilets and lived the dream; UK, USA, from North Wales and North West England; they forged a sound that was to take them all around the world. The cars and bars shook to the 68 Guns, The Spirit of 76, they gave you a reason to dream, to believe… In the 90’s Mike Peters went solo, took time to ‘breathe’ and produced some stunning work. But the call from The Alarm seemed to echo in his mind, so much that the 2003 Poppy Fields project spawned five albums worth of material that someday will blow the whole world away. In 2006 should you give a fuck once again about The Alarm? Why? Reason 54 just turned up to shake the cobwebs away from your ears; it’s time to re-live the dream…

The Alarm in 2006 is still frontman Mike Peters, joined by Stiff Little Finger’s Steve alongside Jezebel’s James and Mission man Craig. They have played up and down the country over the last few years just getting the groove right - perfecting perfection is no easy task… Mike has a work ethic that would kill most bands, I think he is part vampire - he never tires, never gives up, just does not want to stop until he has taken back what was taken from him; the right to stand on any stage, next to any band and say, ‘I’m as good as, hell I’m better!’

So I slip in the little shiny disc, and the first track is the lead single from the album, Superchannel. It sets the scene, if this was 1979, this song would shoot top 10, be on Radio 1 non-stop and become an anthem for a generation. It’s now an anthem for a generation lost, it rocks, it rolls, it does exactly what you want it to, wake up mutha’ fuckers and smell the coffee, revolution now is all around us, being fought on a digital platform! Next up, Without A Fight could be about anybody anywhere in the world, don’t give up, don’t give in, just keep going, keep on trying, you will get there, maybe not today, not tomorrow, but someday - just believe! My Town is the song you will sing, you will drive in your car, go past where you were born, the streets you grew up on, your school, that first kiss, the pub you had your first drink in, your mother’s house, your fathers grave, and now the streets where your child will walk and talk. And you raise your voice high and scream, ‘This is my town.’ And you stand tall, stand proud, and remember it’s where you came from that took you to where you are going!

Raindown takes you to a time when the world may not have been right; dockers, miners, the undefeated, the underprivileged, all those that fight without a cause, without hope; take what you have to, take more, but never give up, let it Raindown. Whatever the colour of that rain the backing vocals on this are quite sublime. It sounds like a band in top gear, and when the end blends into a combination of voices you can’t fail to be impressed. The same can be said for It’s Allright/It’s OK with its Cars-esque guitar intro, this is the American radio hit waiting to happen; the groove is deep, the melody just sweeps over your body like a wave on Malibu beach; the chorus has you jumping up and punching the air, smiling like a Cheshire cat for the fact that those emotions you believed had gone when you got the gold band on your finger, well fear not they have come back!

Be Still can only be the best Cult song never recorded, just like 1985 all over again, big guitars, tribal drums, you can dance to this while you are pissed, except now you dance like your dad used to. This is the evolution track, the proof that you have to go back to go forward, it’s ‘Retro Now’ and it’s fucking fabulous. This Is Life (Get Used To It) is the first chance you have to come up for air, it’s acoustic vibe brings on a whole new flavour, a declaration of the future is here, past is gone, don’t be sad, rejoice, get on with it, realise that you have a worth, you matter, one man can make a difference, one man did, look above, look inside, look around, look outside, but above all, be glad to be alive.

Cease and Desist is an angry song, I want a riot, a riot of my own. This is post-punk rock like Billie Joe wishes he could, which is why he has to steal from the past to create his future, but here Mike embraces a time, a place, a feeling and like a long lost brother in arms, they get drunk, they just pogo ’till they puke, bop ‘till you drop, hey ho let’s go. C’mon, you will sing this one loud as fuck in the car when you are on your own - Teenage Kicks are still hard to beat! Zero breaks loose next and I smile. For me this song is so personal. I asked Mike to record a song for a magazine I used to work for, can you guess the title? He said yes and here it is, it says everything I wanted it to, Everybody Is Something To Someone Somewhere. I never believed that I would ever get the chance to ask Mike to write a song, the fact that it’s on an Alarm album, well laugh if you want, but it made me cry, tears of joy, twenty years ago I would have died, I would have told everyone, even people I didn’t know! No one would have heard the last of it, guess what… nothings changed, fuck yeah!!!

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Something’s Got To Give has an Eye Of The Hurricane feel to it, the driving beat takes you out on a desert highway to discover the night time solidarity of loneliness, the dreams of many wrapped up in one, take a look around in the dark of night, be afraid, born to run, the highways are jammed with broken heroes for the last chance power drive… I Never Left, I Only Went Away is the coming-to-terms song, a coming of age, a realisation of what Mike was he still is, fuck the arguments, the reasons not to will always be outweighed by the reason to. The Alarm is Mike, Mike is The Alarm, he just forgot for a while. Like a poison chalice and a Holy Grail, The Alarm is all that and more, and Mike can stand in front of the mirror in 2006 and like what he sees staring back at him! Few and Far Between lets you know that there is never a better time than the here and now, whatever the year, whenever the now, if you have a dream, a passion, a belief, then just press go, see the green light, ‘you only get one life’ - it’s a reason to justify, a reason not to comply, a call to arms, a chance to live it, love it, make it happen. Last track This Is The Way We Are is the tails to the heads of My Town, it’s the turning of the tide, the time you realise that the thing you loved or hated is the thing you have become. You understand how what has surrounded you for so long has shaped your life, shaped your destiny, so it’s time to stand up and say this is me, this is who I am, this is the way we are!

The shiny disc stops spinning and the only thing that is left is to press play once more; once will never be enough, for the great albums it never is. If you have never heard of this band, do yourself a favour and give it a go, buy it and tell everyone it’s for your dad (if it makes you feel better), it will spend more time in your bedroom than his, (well maybe!) only because you have a lock on your door. If you were a fan and you are still not sure, just go and buy it, trust me, you will be rooting in your ‘Vinyl Cupboard’ for those copies of original Alarm albums. If you are a current believer and have been along for the ride for some time now, well you know the score for sure…

This is not an artist trying to re-capture something lost, it’s an artist finding something he mislaid for a while, and it’s one of the best records of 2006. It simply doesn’t get any better than this! Believe!

5/5

Jj – 2006