William Bloke

Billy Bragg was my travelling companion today, specifically his 1996 album, William Bloke. The follow up to Don’t Try This at Home and 5 years in the making.
Billy’s first album for Cooking Vinyl following his tenure at Go Discs, this album is the last Bragg album I genuinely liked a lot, loved maybe, and from what I have heard it is the last Billy Bragg album that remained true to his sound, at least to me it was.
So songs are inspired by the birth of his son and the impact that has on his life and his political stance, Billy suggests on Brickbat

“I used to want to plant bombs at the Last Night of the Proms, But now you'll find me with the baby, in the bathroom, With that big shell, listening for the sound of the sea,The baby and me”

It’s a long way from rotting on remand.

William Bloke is a thoughtful album, sticking closely to the subjects Bragg does well, Love and Politics but more centred on this album on love, that’s what a baby will do for you. The political songs are present, the extremely clumsy Northern Industrial Town which ends with “Its Belfast” just in case you didn’t guess. I realise I may have spoiled that track for you as you may wanted to have guessed yourself. The Pict Song which is a Rudyard Kipling poem, and GoalHanger, but in the main its love that Billy is professing on this album, and it is all the better for it. 8 out of 10.



Upfield by Billy Bragg