Alan Clayson & The Argonauts
Sunday 21st July 2019
Half Moon Putney, Putney, London, United Kingdom
This many years from their inception, this act could just be going through the motions in performance, becoming a kind of tribute act to themselves. However…the individual character of the ensemble and moreover its material imbues shows with an electricity that few veteran crews can match. There are no youngsters on stage, so some sort of alchemical teamwork brings a contemporary potency, sparks of excitement, crackling solo instrumental runs – not least Clayson’s occasional harp forays! – plus moments of pastoral reflection. This show is an adventure, subject matter all over the place but taking in very local and even global conflicts and dilemmas in equal measure. To Alan all things can be put into perspective, considered or questions or just savoured.
Given the band’s tools of trade all this might mutate into a standard prog-rock address to us the humble audience. But Clayson’s predilection for proper song explanations and introductions gets the punters leaning forward, eager to follow the plot line of the setlist. I don’t recall Jon Anderson or Freddie Mercury describing how as an escape mechanism the songs played might well at provincial and uncomprehending gigs embrace a deliberately LCD ‘soul’ confection with a nonsense lyric to play to the uncouth gallery. Alan’s tale on this is indeed a wry confession of sorts but serves to underline the fact that despite his erudition and scholarly dedication to descriptive writing and lyrical construction, he still understands human nature. Pete’s punchy guitar work recalls Hugh Cornwell or The Only Ones and will dispel any high-falutin’ posturing. The sax and flute forays have an edgy beauty, the bass lines are deep and never over-embellished. The drumming observes the vital dynamics these tunes demand whilst the keyboard excursions skip from eerie fairground waltz runs to steady but melodic chording. The players watch each other to provide empathetic support…unfortunately a somewhat rare facet of vintage acts.
Alan throws himself into the celebratory vibe from the off, moving from topic to topic with an accomplished touch and never far from the next wry joke or rumination. Compiling a setlist must be something of a quandary, but with this set of numbers it is impossible to be any kind of aristarch. His fascination with French songcraft brings an undeniable twist of Brel and Gainsbourg, leaning on the more cinematic strands of what these artists created. From his writing, Clayson’s knowledge of Beatles, Stones, Pretty Things and Floyd supply a rock grounding that mines the sharper end of such acts’ works. Nonetheless there is no snobbery about straight pop music or even show tunes. There remains no obvious adoption of most of the music I love – country, blues, folk, jazz – reinforcing the very Englishness of the group. I am absorbed and don’t worry about roots when the songs have such a honed impact.
Tonight amongst the gems on display we get a robust Superman, swooping dynamics to the fore. Rue Morgue follows, before the emphatic Young England gets an airing. A Hammond break chugs over a staccato beat. As ever The Landlocked Sailor has a quirky delivery, then what I think was a first live delivery of If I’ve Lost You. The pacy Teenage Runaway verges on the frantic then takes a sudden swerve into a Lesley Gore style lounge tempo.
Elsewhere, Days In Old Rotterdam uses a beguiling sway ; the infamous Zoot Bop enlists the crowd as responding vocalists. The Anglo Saxon blues Pagan Mercia delves into historical fantasy. Rakes Progress slips into a fabulous dub reggae segment, but sounds organically appropriate. The release of a ten inch vinyl single of the scifi tale Sol Nova is celebrated and hits home with a coruscating blend put over by Pete, John, Alan the drummer, Andy and Paul.
No cobwebs on this ensemble, catch them when you can.
Pete Sargeant
(Many thanks to Alan Clayson)
Feature Image Photo Credit: Martin Dorsing
You can read our exclusive ’20 Questions With… Alan Clayson’ article here: http://bit.ly/1lEUfqb
Alan Clayson And the Argonauts latest album ‘This Cannot Go On’ is out now. You can read our album review here: http://bit.ly/2BxLKq3
For more information visit the band’s official website here: http://bit.ly/2zASuSZ
