Alan Brown/ The Great Leap Forward - Finished Unfinished Business

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4...according to our Brian on Fri 10 Oct, 2008.

Bizarre to rip open a jiffy from London's buzzsaw revivalist champion Crayola to find he's distributing the new album by Alan Brown. Who???? you say....Well Alan Brown is otherwise known as The Great Leap Forward, the solo project he first embarked on after the dissolving of Manc agit pop legends Big Flame (who I, and many others, adore). 21 years after I first heard the mindblowing 'A Kiss on the Cheek, Apolitique' on Peel and rushed out to buy it like the vinyl devouring spod I still am, he's back with 'Finished Unfinished Business', a lesson in social politics set to anthemic New Order-esque pop with scratchy funk guitars, joyous keyboards and a pulsing drum track. It reminds me a little of mid 80s indie pop with a modern sheen muting that awful production from said decade that renders a lot of great songs from the era a little tacky sounding. I think his vision is quite individual & life affirming and there's a great deal of quality tunage on this album so if you want some edgy, hook filled songs to sing along to (you'll honestly feel like you know them like friends) give this a crack cos it's well good (but I'm a long running fan of this quiet pioneer so I would say that!!!). CD only on Communications Unique!

After seventeen years of relative musical inactivity, songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist Alan Brown (former member of John Peel
favourites Big Flame, A Witness, amongst others ) returns to his
The Great Leap Forward musical project with a scintillating new CD
release “Finished Unfinished Business ”.

The title of the CD tells the story of the release – all eleven songs featured were at incomplete “work in progress ” stage when Brown decided to put The Great Leap Forward on hold in the early 1990’s to pursue other interests.

Now, returning to update and complete those songs more than a decade and a half later, “Finished Unfinished Business ” features a confident and assured Brown delivering trademark melodic and danceable guitar-driven tunes with those familiar social commentaries and politically overt lyrics – the quintessential mix that received such critical acclaim the first time around.

From the countering of the demonisation of young people in the pop opener “ Tolerance and Respect ”, through the support for land reform in developing countries in the rolling “ Wholesome Ways To Change The World ” and the only song yet known to be written in support of the ethical policies of the Co-operative Bank in the driving “ It’s Our Business To Say NO ” to the reflective home area vignette of the pumping “ The Happiest People Under The Sun (Part 1) ” - Alan Brown wears his social conscience on his wide-ranging musical sleeve as only he can.

Regardless of whether you’re already familiar with The Great Leap Forward , or you’re discovering the band for the first time, “Finished Unfinished Business ” sees the return of a distinctive appraisal of modern society through the medium of pop music that’s as relevant for today’s pop kids (and their parents) as it ever was.

As the blog at XPQWRTZ says: “ It would be easy to say that this album is a return to form, but the form never left, it’s simply that the amplifiers were turned off for a while. ”

Well, the amplifiers are back on. Enjoy.

Alan Brown also plays bass in short and spiky indie popsters Sarandon (http://sarandon.net).

4...according to Andrew Helm.

I got to meet Alan during the Sarandon's Age of Reason gig/beer launch and he's a lovely chap. Crayola recently sent me a copy of The Great Leap Forward album and I totally agree, it's wonderful. New Order/Electronic sounds with maybe a bit of Teardrop Explodes in there. He has a great world view which he encapsulates in the lyrics on the album. As you say, uplifting and instantly likeable.

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!