Duncan Reid and the Big Heads - Don't Blame Yourself

The more this year turns to shit, the more the music turns to gold. It's as if the music gods are consoling us. Next up in the hit parade, we've got the brilliant fourth album from Duncan Reid and the Big Heads. Reid, the former Boys singer/bassist, was a founding father of the power pop punk genre that I champion to this day. But far from resting on his glorious past, Reid has assembled a band that rates with the very best of today's pop-leaning punk groups. Don't Blame Yourself is his strongest outing yet with the Big Heads - a collection of punchy and immensely clever pop songs that truly define the term "hook-laden". Reid isn't vague about his formula for success. It's equal parts wit, melody, guitars, and harmonies. That seems simple enough, but not every band has the talent or technique to pull it off. This one sure does!

On Don't Blame Yourself, Reid puts on a veritable master class in power pop punk songwriting. He's crafted 14 fantastic songs that touch on everything from mortality to mid-life crises to entanglements with younger women to the failings of politicians. This is real life stuff for any young man in his 60s, and Reid imbues his songwriting with a wonderful mix of wisdom, maturity, and eternal youthfulness. His sense of humor is absolutely wicked - which to my mind is the best way for a sense of humor to be. There are a number of lines from these songs that had me laughing out loud. I particularly enjoyed "I woke up on the wrong side of a bottle/ I looked it in the eye/I wished it a good morning/No reply". And only a true master of the written word would think to rhyme "Caracas" with "maracas". On "Motherfucker", Reid even pulls off the tricky task of making a political statement without coming off dull and preachy ("Tweets God Save the Queen and makes it sound obscene/And nanny's always keen to clean up where he's been" ). But while Reid's wit is frequently caustic, he's just as inclined to poke fun at himself. If mid-life crisis punk now constitutes its own genre, "Welcome To My World" and "To Live Or Not" ought to be two of its standards. And I love that even within the marvelous hilarity of the latter, you'll find great truth about the importance of living life to its fullest. I appreciate that Reid can go from the delicious cynicism of "Your Future Ex Wife" to something as genuinely sweet and sentimental as "Oh What A Lovely Day". And "Dave" is as heartfelt of a reflection on mortality as you'll ever see.

While Reid is in peak form as a songwriter, Don't Blame Yourself succeeds just as much on the strength of the Big Heads (guitarist Sophie Powers, drummer Karen Jones, guitarist Nick Hughes). This was a band assembled for the road, and fans will sense an energy and punch similar to the live performances. One of the first rules of power pop punk is that you better bring the power. From the opening chords of "Your Future Ex Wife", it's clear that the Big Heads check that box. While more often that not Reid and company work their signature sound to perfection, they do sneak in a few slower numbers that show a range of musical influences. "Tea & Sympathy" and "Oh What A Lovely Day" are pure pop songs with a softer touch, while "The Grim Reaper" sounds like the new Supertramp song you never knew you needed. The title track, another overtly political song, summons the spirit of Marc Bolan. So in the end, you get plenty of the band's patented "melody power pop punk" plus enough surprises to keep things interesting. And that's what a good album ought to do.

For a band that lives to perform for crowds of people, life in quarantine has got to be a particularly bitter pill to swallow. But the arrival of Don't Blame Yourself surely has this gang stoked to get back out there and play the hell out of these songs. Ensure you're fully prepared to sing along by purchasing this fine musical recording at your earliest convenience!



-L.R.

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