Essex raconteur and troubadour Scott Lavene has been carving out his own niche in tight riffed, story-telling post punk for a while now. A well worn indie band hustler, it wasn’t until 2019 that he hit his stride releasing the sardonic, pathos riddled ‘Broke’ under his own name followed by ‘Milk City Sweetheart’ a year later. Poignant and profound, packed with banter fuelled wit and wisdom, that last album began to rattle people’s attention from Craig Finn of Hold Steady to lofty Stateside critic Richard Meltzer but more importantly for Lavene punters began to care. Here was someone who literally spoke to them.
A fine purveyor of the short burst lo-.fi pop song, Lavene finds himself treading a path from Barrett psyche quirkiness to TV Personalities’ eye for detail to a Billy Childish level of seething angst. Hints of Dury, father and son aren’t far away. So any signs of fresh Scott Lavene music and stories is enough to help us through the darker months and here it is.
Prettiest Peach is a rumbustious, sharp observation of the day to day or as Lavene puts it ‘how people are odd and how oddness is excellent, how characters should be celebrated’. Released through Nothing Fancy and recorded with Benjamin Woods.of Golden Dregs, it takes a feisty, no frills approach to art-punk with added punch and purpose. A swaggering bass-line, strict beat drumming, time keeping clangs and a fizzing synth hum kick the song along while Lavene reveals home truths deadpan style.
With new album scheduled plus spring dates, Lavene’s world of ‘nightclub whistlers and tinkers, wise crackers and dames’ is waiting.
‘Prettiest Peach’ by Scott Lavene is available now at: https://scottlavene.bandcamp.com/track/prettiest-peach
Up coming UK headline dates :
29/01 – The Prince Albert – Stroud
18/02 – The Craufurd Arms – Milton Keynes
09/03 – Rialto Theatre, Brighton
22/03 – Hug & Pint – Glasgow
23/03 – The Engine Rooms – North Shields
24/03 – Gullivers – Manchester
