Grow Fins

This is a very interesting album. It might have sounded better if the true identity of the recording artist remained a mystery. For whatever reason, Paul McCartney has decided to unmask his alter ego and hopefully, it won’t work against him. Now I’ve never been a big McCartney fan and my Beatles dalliances remain safely tucked away in my adolescent musical explorations. However, one cannot but acknowledge the undeniable talent and originality of this half of the Lennon-McCartney composing behemoth.

The Fireman first emerged with the 1998 release titled Rushes – a very notable electronic/ambient effort from the McCartney/Youth team-up – and now a difficult to find collectible. Played today, it’s still relevant as an example of its genre and no doubt, few would have guessed or cared that it was in fact a former Beatle collaboration. Why he has decided to resurrect the Fireman pseudonym with the release late last year of Electric Arguments is anyone’s guess but my theory is that as an astute businessman, McCartney realises that his creative output is very much constrained by his brand and the audience that would consume it. As one of the most famous faces of music in our time, he’s in a tight spot. If he decides to pursue his creative ideas and releases something inconsistent with his existing catalog, he will inevitably alienate himself from his loyal fan base. Furthermore, he would probably not draw sufficient attention from new audiences to offset such alienation. So his only option is to release alternative work through a handy pseudonym.

This is a good album and, unlike Rushes, there is something for everyone. The opener, ‘Nothing Too Much, Just Out of Sight’ is a blistering gospel blues incantation as penetrating as anything by Muddy Waters or Son of Dave. The subsequent tracks are a range of innovative well produced pieces and melodic electronic numbers not foreign to the McCartney songbook. The packaging (on the Little India release anyway) is beautiful – a nondescript crimson outer sleeve betraying the author’s true identity (this could have been more subtle) and a coated gate-fold inner package with a transparent decal on the cellophane inner wrapper and finally within, a substantial book in colour containing some decent impromptu studio photographs of the man himself and his co-author Youth, as well as some (presumably) original paintings by Paul. I rate this album 4 out of 5 stars – a worthy listen and testament to the boundless talent of this pop music icon. The fact that something this good can come out of a pop musician well past his prime is proof once again that one is never too old to rock ‘n roll. [J.Smith]



Rushes, the first Fireman release is now only available as an MP3 download from Amazon. Get it here…