Stick In The Wheel - A Thousand Pokes [Black Vinyl LP]

Cat. no: SITW024LP
Format: LP Black Vinyl LP
Barcode: 5056032388024
Release Date: 11 Oct 2024
Genre: Folk

SITW's fourth studio album is a satirical celebration of mistakes

A joyous lambasting of everyone and everything that's wrong in the world, against the real-time backdrop of global uncertainty, corruption and political unrest.

A London Charivari. Rough Music. A gleeful old- fashioned cancelling. A Chaunter's delight. 14th Century recording demons collecting mistakes in a sack. Women mugging rich merchants. Nettles being pissed on. Shit food at Lent. A terrible plan. An undoing. The aftermath of a car crash. Catching people doing something they shouldn't. Nursery rhymes reimagined as death threats. Behind the sarcastic acerbic delivery, Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter convey thoughtful, essential interpretations encouraging us all to check ourselves, through the multi-layered music of cities through time. This is about as far away from pastoral folk music as you can get.

In their typical wry city-weary style, a beady eye is cast over those committing wrongs in plain sight, with Kearey narrating a series of tales of people fucking up, or being fucked up, with some brief respite in Lavender - one of London's oldest street melodies - the album being named after the 14th Century story of Tittivilus, the recording demon, who collects scribes' mistakes (pokes) and the idle chatter of the "liars with their hairy tongues" congregation.

Despite this seriousness, the album's working-class dry gallows humour carries a stoic "if you don't laugh you'll cry" feeling amongst the corruption, scandals and barefaced lies we all observe on a daily basis, with a warning that "only you can fx your defcits" and "it's your words and deeds that matterand let me tell you, they speak volumes". 

Full UK tour from October to December, playing Nottingham, Manchester, York, London, Aldershot, Ramsgate, Bristol, Oxford, Dartington, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cumbria, Lewes and Hayling Island.
Collaboration with The Pogues for Hackney Empire Anniversary concert
Features in Songlines and The Quietus. Reviews in Mojo, Songlines (plus covermount track), The Wire and Uncut.
Plays on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Ulster.
Fans include Iggy Pop, Marc Riley, Spider Stacy...
Previous support from The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Quietus, Clash, BBC Radio 2, Worldwide

LP Black Vinyl LP Tracks: Crystal Tears / Back Of The Hatch / A Thousand Pokes / Burnt Walk / Lavender / The Cramp / Cracks / Can't Stop / What Can The Matter Be / Watercress-o / Brisk Lad / Hush / Steals The Thief

More From This Artist: Stick In The Wheel