Dougie from 4ft Fingers is moving to Australia. Where this
is an amazing thing for Dougie and his family it really sucks for big fans of
4ft Fingers like me. For me 4ft Fingers have been a massive influence in my
current love of underground punk rock, they were one of the very first bands
from the scene I ever really listened to. I still remember getting their second
album Hero To Zero from the Plastichead Records mail-order catalogue on the
basis of liking the cover art. Happily I love Hero To Zero so I went an brought
their debut album At Your Convenience. For me At Your Convenience is one of the
best punk rock albums ever and still brings a massive smile to my face whenever
I listen to it. As a bit of a celebration to one of the most important bands in
my life I go back at review At Your Convenience.
The album kicks off with the classic (a word I might use a
few times in this review) Brickwall. The song is perfect for starting the album
the off in the right way. It’s a fast and fun skate punk anthem that will have
you singing along in no time at all. Listening back now as a more mature(ish) I
can hear all sort of great musicianship from the bands engine room, especially
some really intricate bass lines. The next song One For The Road is a great
punk rock drinking anthem. It’s the sort of song that will make you want to put
your arm around whoever is near you and scream along with the chorus. Track
three Pictures starts out with some excellent guitar riffs that really grab
your attention from the beginning. The song screams intensity throughout with
lead vocalist Rob’s voice seemingly more serious than the jovial style from the
opening two song. Slowly Sinking is another more serious song that sees’s the
band venture into the world of politics. The band takes a stand against MPs and
politicians who are liars and only seem to be looking out for themselves. It’s
quite scary and disappointing that the song is as relevant today as it was in
2001 when it was first released. Killing Time is a more upbeat number and sees
add an element of ska to their sound. It’s about that one friend that everyone
has, that guy you only really ever spend any time with if nobody else is
around. (If you don’t have one then it might be you) I really love how the band
switch between ska for the verses and then go all out skate punk for the
chorus, complete with some fantastic harmonies.
The sixth track Coffee Grinder also mixes some ska guitar
with some skate punk. The band is showing fantastic ability and songwriters and
musicians to seamlessly jump between two genres of music. My Song is a song
that every punk rocker could relate to. It’s about being on a night out with
your friends, probably visiting some kind of popular establishment, asking the
DJ to play your favourite song and having to wait for a long time to hear it. Drunkenville
is another classic 4ft Fingers song. Like One For The Road it’s a fun punk rock
drinking song, all about drinking to get away from the bad things in life. I
always find it kind of ironic that some of my favourite songs are about getting
drunk even though I have been sober for my entire life. The gang vocals towards
the end of the song are excellent and give that fantastic feeling of everyone
being in it together, I big reason of why I love punk rock as a culture. The
classic 4ft Fingers tracks continue with Hopeless Romantic. This is a full on
ska punk song complete with horns and an incredibly skankable beat. Having seen
the band a few times I can say from my experiences that this is one of the
tracks that get’s everyone in the room dancing.
The tenth song Learn To Survive is the song that’s really
grown on me the most on the album. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised just how
good this song is. Returning to a more serious punk sound Learn To Survive is
all about teaching yourself how to be a grown up without ever really being
given any sort of training, how sometimes it can be hard but if you stand up
for what you believe in then you’ll be fine. Broken Bones is another song in a
similar skate punk sound. The song starts out with some furious drumming that
makes you believe that something big is coming. The band blasts through two
verse’s and a couple of choruses before getting a nice long musical interlude before
finishing up with a big finale of a repetitive chorus and some excellent, Bad
Religionesque harmonies. The penultimate song Sense Of Direction for me is THE
classic 4ft Fingers track. A staple of their live set due to the brilliant
simple la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, OI, OI, Oi! This get’s everyone singing
and smiling live, and if for some unknown reason you’re not a fan of the band
you will be after this song. What I really love about the song though is the
positive message about having the courage to speak up and say what’s on your
mind. It’s amazing to me that such a amazing message can come out of what on
the surface is just a bit of a silly song. The original version of At Your
Convenience finishes with the song Goodbye Good Luck. This is a break up song,
and something again easily relatable (sadly) for too many people. They finish
the album just how they started it, fast and furious punk rock which is
fantastic to sing along to.
At Your Convenience really is a timeless classic for me.
Even after all this years on listening to it consistently I still get excited
hearing the songs and still smile and sing along. I don’t know where 4ft
Fingers will get mentioned in the list of all time greatest UK punk bands, I’m
not in charge of the list, however if I was they would certainly appear very
close to the top of the list. For me 4ft Fingers are legends in our brilliant
little scene.
Check out more from 4ft Fingers here: https://www.facebook.com/4ftfingers
Now listening to We Had A Pact by Creeper
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