Wreckless Eric - Reviews

DJ Magazine
September 2004

Wreckless Eric
Bungalow Hi Southern Domestic
*** and a half

And you thought The Libertines were rock'n'roll! Well they're not a patch on Wreckless Eric. Since making his name as part of the Stiff Records collective in the late 70s, he's pretty much seen and done it all. Twenty albums down the line, the odd life curveball later - including bankruptcy,alcoholism, and a short spell in a mental institution - and he's still here to tell the tales, and luckily enough he's happy to share them.
Twelve tracks to the good and you feel like a bewildered double-glazing salesman who's stumbled into the home of a kind and loveable eccentric. Who after departing with plenty of stories, lots of wisdom, the odd tear and the odd joke, sends you packing with a belly full of mushroom tea.
Enter at your peril.
(Found Sounds)

I can't often tell but I think this one's a fairly good review. I quite like it because it's not as patronising or condescending as most of them seem to be, and it reads as though the reviewer has actually listened to the album.

It's a shame that rock 'n' roll is a lifestyle choice these days - I preferred it when it was a type of music, but that's just me. Bankruptcy, alcoholism and the odd mental aberration have played their part in making me the person that I am now, but they shouldn't be confused with the music I'm making. Reviewers tend to take things literally or at face value. They think the songs are straightforwardly autobiographical. I don't want to disappointt anybody but it isn't that simple. Sometimes it's autobiographical, sometimes it's drawn from observation, sometimes from personal experience, and most of the time from a mixture of all of these. If it was just a matter of me baring my soul I'd be so bloody and raw I wouldn't be able to survive it - I don't think anybody would.
I don't think I tell any stories on this album, songs aren't necessarily stories - I think I'm painting pictures instead, or I might be basket weaving, I'm not sure.

I think when he says departing with plenty of stories he's thinking of imparting wisdom. Anyway, I don't think either is applicable in this case because I'm not imparting wisdom either.

I like the bewildered double-glazing salesman image.