Great Cynics are an indie punk band from London and they could’ve just released their best album yet. Fourth album Posi, written and released during a period of adjustment for the band with bassist, vocalist and sometimes song writer Iona Cairns leaving the band to focus on her excellent band Shit Present. There may have been a worry that this could derail Great Cynics in some way, but that definitely isn’t the case – the new album sounds more concentrated, more focused and somehow even more anthemic than previous albums.
Songs such as ‘Happiness, London’, ‘Easily Done’ and ‘Butterfly Net’ are classic Great Cynics – sing-a-long songs conveyed through clever song writing about finding happiness and positivity (the album title is perfect for a Great Cynics album) in every day life, even when everything seems desperate and fucked. ‘Don’t Buy The Sun’ sees the band taking a slightly different direction – it builds slowly into a slightly distorted and frenzied attack on tabloid newspapers and the hatred and division they promote. It’s great to hear Giles Bidder using his obvious talent to write a straight up political song.
The release of the album a couple of days before the arrival of British Summer Time was perfect for a band, especially on this album, that carry a sound that feels like the start of something new and the hope of good times ahead. It’s a perfect accompaniment to drinking cans of beer in the sun.
Tyskie is mentioned a couple of times during the album (‘Summer At Home’, Butterfly Net’) but as that’s owned by Asahi Group Holdings we don’t stock it or encourage the drinking of it but we do think the perfect pairing for the album is definitely a lager. And that perfect pairing is Hoi Polloi, an easy drinking, crisp Czech Pilsner from Alphabet Brewing Company. Get a couple of cans in and listen to Posi in your favourite spot in the park/ garden/ wib.
You can buy Posi from Specialist Subject Records here.
You can listen to Posi here.
You can buy Hoi Polloi by coming to the shop.
Disclaimer: Beer people can sometimes take themselves a bit too seriously. You can take this as serious as you like but we imagine if you’ve spent anytime in the shop you’ll know that’s not the case at wib but we DO take good beer and good music seriously so if we review and pair anything on this blog you can be sure we think it’s bloody great.
Note: If you want to send a record for us to play in the shop/ maybe get a review, please do. We’ll play anything in the shop which isn’t racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. or shit. And if we love it, we’ll write a review and pairing.