Thomas J Marchant - Clusterfvck in A Major

Hear The Track Here

Oh come on, it wouldn't feel like the end of the year for me without the obligatory Thomas J Marchant track. Just be thankful that he can never be Artist Of The Year any more. Tsk, so where were we?? Aahh the Musician from Maidstone. Although Thomas has been around for-*******-ever, it's only the the last few years that he has shown his true colours and - almost as a byproduct - found a willing audience for his own inimitable style. It's also taken me the same amount of for-yadda yadda to finally see the product of all that work and time. I always knew that he was intensely musical, even when the music he made wasn't; intense or musical that is. Certainly his early guise was very hard to understand. At heart though, Thomas is a knockout songwriter and - dare I say it - old fashioned troubadour.

And that's a very honourable thing to be.

It's rare to get me to do a musical double-take, if you know what I mean. The first time I heard this I sat stunned afterwards. No, I thought, surely not. Did that young scamp Thomas just cut me off at the knees with a one chord frenetic strum, and a breathless, never ending spiel about the state of the world? Something that simple with that much power? Well, Dylan did it, and Thomas - whether he admits it or not - owes a considerable debt to the man. Actually, no, that's not quite true because all Bob was doing was regurgitating the old American folk musicians with a different slant. However, the general style remains the same so if you like and appreciate the early Bob Dylan then you can find much to like in Thomas's songs.

Thomas has blossomed more as a songwriter than anything else, doesn't matter what he turns his hand at, the song underpinning is going to be different, interesting and very listenable - even one backed up by an unremitting one chord bash. I do suggest you read the lyrics while listening though, it will make a lot more sense that way. It's actually quite an interesting idea and like the last Thomas J track I reviewed (Ego - November 2010) shows what the man is capable of when his back is against a wall. Now obviously Clusterfvck isn't going to be to everyone's taste but I guarantee this is going to go down a storm with his true fans - like me.

Highly Recommended musical rant.