Very rarely does an album come along that almost defies description, while offering a dazzling array of musical influences, stunning sonic quality, and total accessibility. Imagine that you’ve had a terrible day at the office (not too hard I think…) with your incompetent and grossly over-paid boss claiming the kudos for your great ideas, while treating you like a dick-head. Or you’ve been on the road trying to sell the unsaleable against a backdrop of incessant and unnecessary mobile calls, one of which raised the attention of the passing motorcycle cop… And it’s the hottest day of the year and your company doesn’t supply rep cars with air conditioning. Or perhaps you’re trapped in the bowels of London’s underground rail system along with hundreds of commuters, standing, hot and there’s been a power cut… No doubt you can add many more scenarios, but you finally get home to find that your wife and kids have added another grand to your credit card bill, there’s nothing to eat but there is a very cold beer in the fridge that you’ve carefully hidden from your abusing young son… What do you do? I’ll tell you what you should do… Switch on your stereo, kick the cat out of your lounger, uncap the beer bottle, and put this CD in the slot. I can promise you that for the next 40-odd minutes you’ll be taken to a better place and the memories of the day you’ve just had will dissipate… That’s the kind of record this is. Hell the next day you may even feel brave enough to jack in the god-awful job after delivering the most lethal left hook to the chin of your wanker of a boss (to the cheers of the whole office who also happen to have just bought this superb record)…

Yes folks, BISCUITS FOR CERBERUS is a potent tonic that you’ll keep gulping down, probably till you meet up with heaven’s lead man. So when does the inspiration start? It will take a couple of seconds for the first track, Cerberus Is As Cerberus Does, with its ringing Hammond intro, wandering piano notes and diving guitar chords to wind-up. It’s a bluesy, bone-shaker with a free-ranging vocal that’s perfectly imperfect. Add a (typically) strong melody and you’re well and truly hooked – believe me! It gets better… Next track Ball & Chain will be right down your street with its gorgeous, shiny bright guitar licks and shimmering honky-tonk piano notes. At this point I should mention that sonically you’re unlikely to find better recording clarity than is exhibited here. Every instrumental note, every lyric shines brightly like the most expertly polished gem stone – and you won’t need a mega-buck, audiophile stereo set-up to hear it. Lyrically this and the other songs here also shine with humour, intelligence and poetic cohesion. Youth Shall Never Beat Old Age In A Race goes upbeat with Hammond and harmonica downright rampant – more than a touch of Georgie Fame here. The unpretentious vocal completes another superb musical package. Big & Clever has an Inspector Clouseau vibe as it crawls along just like that creeping big cat… Lyrically, it’s a beauty: “With a world full of losers, someone has to be a winner…” Dogboy Vs. Monstors opens in funky mode before it opens out into a howling, rattling, and highly original rock song. Diversity aplenty lies here and the next song, The Flatpack Bride Of Possibilities, is rap like you’ve never heard it played before. Whichever way you turn, the generic musical influences are legion and include the blues, lounge jazz, soul, country and occasionally a sense of the cinematic (David Lynch, spy movies, spaghetti westerns, French romantic dramas, TV detectives…). The End Of Summer and Bring Me The Head Of John The Baptist are prime examples of the latter. There’s also a couple of beguiling instrumental interludes that emphasis the substantial skills of the players (Jesse Budd, Joe Atkinson, Greg Shepheard and Mike Chitty) that play such a huge part in making this record what it is. Waltz Of The Monster Dogs is a beautiful example with its dominant piano and most subtle accordion background.

This is Flipron’s second album and it’s hard to imagine the guys getting any better than this (although on this showing, you can expect the unexpected). You won’t have heard anything like this record, and yet it’s one that you’ll end up putting on repeat play for months on end. And each time you’ll discover something new and wonderful. Emotionally and musically diverse, this album is set to get critical tongues wagging (in a nice way…) and if it doesn’t receive a short-list nomination in next year’s Nationwide Mercury Prize there really is no justice. This is a fabulous record and, of course, essential listening.

4.5/5