Album Reviews

In a time when most folk music either lacks a message, relying on traditional acoustic instruments to fulfill its categorization, or is thunkingly obvious in its political messages and garbage in its melodies (Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up," despite being fairly rocking, would qualify in this category), thank God we still have Billy Bragg.

The latest album by England's rabid socialist with a heart, Mr. Love and Justice, kicks off with a song called "I Keep Faith" that illustrates the softness always present under his desire to line the rich up against the wall. Bragg has always split his time between love songs and dyspeptic takes on the gap between moneyed and powerful and the not, and he's not bearing out the old saw about becoming more conservative with age. "O' Freedom" is an old-fashioned tune with a subject both old and still relevant (the abuse of power in the name of protecting freedom), and while it's not exactly subtle, its nimble melody helps the message ring out.

Mr. Love and Justice comes in two versions, one full band and one solo, but there's not a tremendous difference between them. Bragg's music has always been strong enough to withstand both extremely stripped down instrumentation and slathering with electric guitars and backup vocalists. Nothing here is quite as beautiful or profound as his first three albums, which break the heart on a regular basis, as with "The Saturday Boy," but there are plenty of cheery, memorable numbers here, from "I Almost Killed You," a surprising romp packed with handclaps, to "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show," a sarcastically sunny anti-smoking ditty.

—Hillary Brown
05.12.08