“I can feel my angsty senses stinging, something’s not right and I’m bad vibing” – Temporary Cemetery
Welcome to Ombudsmen’s debut album Liquid Assets. This is highly original, socially conscious, financially unstable work, both light hearted and deadly serious; an album full of frustration and hope, a human story for inhumane times.
The band have very kindly provided a breakdown of album tracks and some words of advice on how to consume them. This insight feels like a rare gift and I hope you feel privileged to receive it. My advice is to have a peruse, pick the track that speaks to you first and fill your boots. These interpretations of a feeling, a moment, an attack, the state of world decay, a rush of happiness are identifiable, relatable and searingly honest. But enough of my ramblings… here’s a word or two from the artists…
“We encourage you to play these songs as much as you like and in whichever way you feel appropriate. However, we believe the most radio-friendly tracks are; Slide Through My Veins and Shifting Sands, whilst Crocodilian Nightmare and Temporary Cemetery are real fan favourites. Solon’s Marble, Take Everything and Türkmenbaşy are the numbers we’re most proud of.
Below is a run through of each of the songs. This is by no means essential reading, just supplementary. Feel free to interpret them however you choose, but also feel free to check this out if you’re wondering about any of them.
Solon’s Marble – An attempt to reconcile humanity and democracy’s relationship and how it is inevitably flawed and set up to fail.
Slide Through My Veins – The physical manifestation of happiness and the events leading up to it. The aim was to put those lovely feelings upon a pedestal without discounting the trials and tribulations faced in pursuing them
Crocodilian Nightmare – The musings of someone on the receiving end of an abusive relationship. Constantly being told there is nothing wrong, when there clearly is. The confusion can make you feel like there’s a crocodile swimming around in your head.
Shifting Sands – Trying to make sense of mental health medications and the insincerity of how they make you feel. If the feelings are fabricated, are they valid?
Sugar Fantasy – The personal symptoms of Hypoglycaemia and how shit it is
Take Everything – With a bit of help from Oscar Wilde, this song is an unsavoury review of Neo-Liberalism. It explores how the likes of Thatcher, Regan and the model’s other acolytes have deemed everything for sale and are only capable of deducing how something can make them money. This way of doing things benefits the few and ruins many
Hot Grief – A jab at people we would describe as “grief junkies”. When somebody famous passes away, people attempt to gain endorphin hits by indulging in a spot of pseudo-grief on social media, often having had no prior awareness of the deceased person. The song is partially inspired by an ex-colleague, who was unfamiliar with Bowie the morning that he died, yet posted about how much he missed him later that evening.
Temporary Cemetery – A pastiche of Paul McCartney’s “Temporary Secretary”, this song navigates feeling depressed enough to not be around, but not enough to complete suicide
Burnt Rubber – A touch of a comic relief from the album’s misery. Iceman spoofs his way through the story of Ombudsmen’s high-speed shenanigans on the streets of Manchester. In some ways, this story is true. In a more accurate way, it is not.
Prime Ape – We’re a Neolithic square peg in a modern-day round hole. Perhaps if we were more in touch with how we were back then, we’d feel a bit less anxious?
Türkmenbaşy – Want the cheat code to get into heaven? Don’t like beards? A chronology of Turkmenistan’s late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov a.k.a. Türkmenbaşy. This song highlights his eccentricities, detailing how he named a hybrid melon, a city and a month after himself, therefore enabling you to eat Türkmenbaşy, in Türkmenbaşy, during Türkmenbaşy, with Türkmenbaşy. Writing credits appropriately given to Niyazov for this one, as the fanfare at the end is comprised of his past quotes.“
Hopefully something in all of the above catches your eye. If you enjoy what you hear I highly recommend giving these folks a follow and catching them live next time you can. Unique flashes of brilliance must be fed.
Connect with Ombudsmen on Facebook / Instagram/ Bandcamp
Review by Breige Cobane
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