BLUENOSE B
Truth is King
Much water has passed under the bridge since the 1980s when Stephen Lawson was the leader of Liverpool band Blue Nose, named after the long lines of men waiting in the cold with their blue noses to collect their unemployment benefit, their “dole money”. The classic band line up, which also featured Stephen’s older brother Michael, his cousin David Billows and John Briody, one of his best friends, rubbed shoulders with the likes of China Crisis, Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes and The Mighty Wah and garnered support from the likes of the NME, Sounds, Janice Long and John Peel.
1990 saw the band release their American Gigolo album, on Liverpool’s Audio Visual Records, (AVA004), which was distributed by the legendary Probe Plus, (“Music to drive you to drink”), label and was only available on cassette.
Fast forward 36 years, and Stephen, who has been working for some time under the musical alias of Bluenose B, creatively revisits American Gigolo, which now benefits from the wealth of experience, knowledge and musical vision he has gained over the intervening years and has enabled him to produce what he had hoped to achieve at the time of the original recording. Copies of the original are as rare as hen’s teeth, Stephen himself, I believe, doesn’t even own a copy, and there appears to be no online presence, thus comparisons with the original are not possible. However, the co-crediting for all songs of John Kettle, (Merry Hell), who has been working in a creative musical relationship with Stephen for the past decade, suggests fundamental sonic differences to the original.
Why then a change in title for this release? The simple answer is that the original 9 tracks are book-ended by two other songs. The first of these, the opening and title track, ‘Truth Is King’, is a poignant and acerbic observation inspired or disgusted in equal measure when Stephen heard news of Donald Trump’s pardoning of a convicted criminal with apparent links to the president. Musically, this is an extremely strong opening to the album, with the electric guitar riffs, on-point drum beat and overall sound creating an anthemic landscape. The author suggests with the song title that “… three words are the answer” to the deception, duplicity and falsehoods which are “Hidden by the grey men, Corruption and their lies” with “their doctored poisoned pictures” and that, indeed “Truth will save the world.” Written and recorded in a day, as we are informed, the song links his revisiting of the past with the present day.
The next nine songs follow the track-listing that of original release, kicking off with ‘American Gigolo’,(no connection, other than a lyrical reference to the film of the same name). Presenting much more as a 60s-vibe jangly-guitar pop piece, imagine Buffalo Springfield or The Byrds hailing from Seaforth and, lyrically, meeting Half Man Half Biscuit, the song contains the epically memorable lyric “I’d rather go camping in Scotland than getting legless on the coast of Spain… I’d like to jig with you all the same.”
In the two following songs the lyrics offer social comment or commentary, which, regrettably, seem as valid a reflection of life in 2026 as they did when written. The initial lighter touch of ‘In The Evening’ again spotlights jangly guitar, a feature which permeates the recording, in a song which appears to touch upon the travails of Albert the protagonist “All he’s got is a pile of worries”, with a coruscating guitar solo the perfect adjunct to “what a scream”. Whilst ‘Down In My City’, an up-tempo piece with catchy chorus, belies the subject matter, “Down in my city there are children waiting for their better times, down in my city there are angry women and angry young men waiting for the hope to come again.”
Musically, ‘Stay With Me’ continues in same vein, as it bounds along, propelled by an insistent drum beat and taut bass, a real feel good factor song, whereas ‘Prayer’ sees a change, beginning with a slower tempo and measured chords, but building as it progresses, with another scintillating electric guitar solo and eminently catchy, sing-along chorus.
The opening bass-heavy chug and choppy electric chords of ‘Hey Marianne’, originally entitled ‘Hey Marrianne (Beneath The Sheets)’ on the American Gigolo release as Track One on Side Two of the cassette, give way to more jangling electric guitar figures on a track which is replete with activity. Credit must be paid to the aforementioned John Kettle, who, in addition to contributing vocals, guitar and bass, once again is credited with production, engineering and mastering.
As with other songs on this collection, ‘Gun Slinger’, with its “hey, hey, heys” lends itself to audience participation on this ballad-like, slower tempo offering, with ‘Back to Bed’ offering a melodic journey, replete with a tasteful, Hank Marvin-esque guitar solo. The final track from the original recording is ‘She'll Do For Me’. Fittingly, given the Liverpool connection, the song doffs a nod to echoey, psychedelic-guitar sounds produced by George Martin.
‘The Light Diminished’, a track written at the time but left in the studio as the band were unable to match how its writer wanted it to be, finally gets to be released, and is another gem. From the “la la las” of the opening and chorus to the closing notes the listener is served an aural treat in a song which appears to reflect upon lost love, “there was light in my memory, there was light in your eyes but that light soon diminished”. With a reprise of ‘She’ll do for me’ as a single edit, the album comes to a satisfying end.
As with his two previous releases, the packaging is first class. The CD comes with a bande dessinée/manga-style comic, with further artwork by Neil McCartney and the video for the title track (here) continues Stephen’s exploration of the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence offers, (intriguingly entitled Truth is King Video 1, suggesting further videos, unless I’m reading too much into it).
Truth Is King offers wondrous slices of truly uplifting, guitar-led music and catchy melodies with a serious, indie-pop sensibility, proving that high quality music is timeless. Highly recommended.
Truth is King