So Wrong It’s Right

Andrew Weatherall has been making great music for the past 20 years, but he shows no sign of slowing down and has reinvented himself again. His latest album with Keith Tenniswood as 2 Lone Swordsmen may not appeal to listeners who loved their skewed electro, but ‘Wrong Meeting’ is the logical and superior successor to the somewhat muted ‘Gone From The Double-Down Chapel’. It sees the duo ditch electronic music: steeped in swampy blues as reinterpreted by the Fall and Nick Cave, with the occasional rockabilly rhythm workout and catchy, Pixies-style indie numbers thrown in for good measure, ‘Wrong’ is a smoky, whisky-sodden trawl through Weatherall’s psyche – and these combined factors make it a landmark release. It seems that Lord Sabre has put a few tough years behind him (he wouldn’t explain exactly what happened, but it would be safe to assume that the devil’s dandruff played a role in the whole drama) and now he is back in control, more creative than ever. He’s used the personal turmoil to his advantage, and his deadpan vocals and bittersweet lyrical vignettes see him exorcise his demons – especially on the biographical ‘Rattlesnake Daddy’ and the so good it has to be huge singalong finale, ‘Get Out Of My Kingdom’, which he says was ‘wrenched from the darkest abyss of the past few years’. Ironically, although ‘Wrong Meeting’ sees the Swordsmen make the transition from anonymous studio duo to fully-fledged live band - Weatherall is an unlikely front man and they have recruited two other members – and could make them famous, they’ve done the unexpected and are only releasing the album as a vinyl box set, with only 1,000 copies available. There’s a second, more widely available LP due to be released later this year, so their assault on the hit parade proper will have to wait until then.