Duckworth Lewis Method
(1969 Records)
In 2009, the chances for a concept album to have popular appeal and credibility are rather slim; if that album's about sport, the chances are even slimmer; and if it's about cricket then you'd fancy its chances to be non-existent. To be fair, you can understand why people might not get especially excited at the prospect of a record about a sport whose contests can last for five days and still end in a draw. And if band names are anything to go by, then this one doesn't bode well, borrowed from the mathematical formula devised to determine the outcomes of cricket matches disrupted by inclement weather. Against the odds, though, the Duckworth Lewis Method (Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash) have come up with a cricketing record that's not only hugely enjoyable but that also avoids the dreaded "novelty album" category.
Although the album begins with a track about cricket's traditional opening coin-toss, pauses halfway for a musical interlude evoking a rain-enforced interruption in play and concludes with an explicitly valedictory song, there's actually no strict narrative progression beyond these structural markers -- no attempt to tell a story in vintage concept-album fashion. The story here is simply Hannon and Walsh's obsession with cricket, an obsession that they indulge through a suite of songs that engage with the sport from myriad perspectives: from nostalgic, '60s-pop-tinged reminiscences of a cricket-mad childhood to a funk-driven meditation on the sport's history to an anthemic celebration of Test matches to a musical fantasy about driving to Pakistan to meet legendary ex-player Javed Miandad.
It's fitting that a concept album about a quintessentially English pursuit (albeit by two Irishmen) should pay homage to Ray Davies, a master of the genre when it comes to matters quintessentially English. That comes across in the Kinks-y "Gentlemen and Players," a beautifully melodic pop tune that doubles as a discussion of the role of social class in cricket. A million miles from the Kinks -- but no less brilliantly observed -- is "The Age of Revolution," where '30s jazz collides with '70s funk to soundtrack a potted social history of the sport from its amateur origins in England to its highly commercialized post-colonial context. These two songs, in particular, emphasize the prodigious songwriting talents Hannon has previously displayed with the Divine Comedy, foregrounding his knack for balancing witty, erudite lyrics with catchy music.
The album's release was timed to coincide with the biennial England vs. Australia Ashes series, the most storied contest in world cricket, and the finest moment, "Jiggery Pokery," deals with that 127-year-old rivalry, commemorating an incident from the 1993 series. This Flanders and Swann-style piano ditty finds Hannon singing in the character of former England captain and noted food-lover Mike Gatting, recounting how he fell victim to the so-called "ball of the century," delivered by the then little-known Australian spinner Shane Warne. ("How such a ball could be bowled I don't know but if you ask me / if it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past me.")
Beyond their straightforward thematization of cricket, Hannon and Walsh also use the sport as a creative springboard to go off in other directions, taking cricketing jargon and giving it very different meanings and contexts: for example, the brilliant neo-glam stomp, "The Sweet Spot," is a double-entendre filled romp about oral sex; by contrast, the melodramatic, Scott Walker-esque ballad, "The Nightwatchman," converts the titular non-specialist batsman into the protagonist of a love song.
The Duckworth Lewis Method's musical tribute to cricket is as rich and multifaceted as the game itself, brimming with enough minutiae and insightful detail to satisfy the hardcore aficionado of the sport. Crucially, however, it's not necessary to be an obsessive follower of the game to find pleasure in this album since these songs are so strong and infectious that it often doesn't matter what they're actually about. Indeed, this might be a great cricket album but, more importantly, it's also a great pop album.
Standout Tracks: "Gentlemen and Players," "Jiggery Pokery," "Flatten the Hay," "Test Match Special" WILSON NEATE
