As the Premier League football season gets underway, it is fitting that the new album from Bobby Conn is as extreme an example of a record of two halves as is imaginable. While each side exists as an independent conception and could be played in either order, I will channel my inner Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to tackle it in the order set out on the streamed copy.
In this universe, ‘Bobby’s Place’ starts with Side A and sees Conn living in a tent on the astral plane surrounded by synthesisers, woodwinds, hand drums and a pulsating psychedelic fog with Planet Earth only faintly visible in the distance. There are only three tracks on this side, primarily instrumental with no intelligible vocals, the first of which is ‘Jay & Bee’ on which DJ LaDeuce’s electronics and Josh Johannpeter’s drums are prominent, hopping around like a bunch of hyperactive electronic frogs. Shards of Conn’s guitar and synth are joined by Monica BouBou’s violin to weave propulsive patterns. The remaining two tracks are both eight-minute epics. ‘Wretched’ spends much of its first half as a brooding, slowly pulsing piece interspersed with irregular tinkling of bells before adding flute, piccolo, bassoon and mumbled voices to the mix as it builds atmosphere. In contrast, ‘All For You’ begins as a bossa nova shimmy with “baa di baa baa” vocals, although high pitched noises soon intervene. Rapidly changing shape, it transforms into a rave-like piece, albeit with noises that sound like space animals being tortured. As it draws to its conclusion, manipulated radio voices announce that “the jam is over.” It is certainly Conn’s most exploratory work to date, though to extend the footballing metaphor it is more like a scrappy first half with some intricate footwork and thwarted moves but does not set the pulse racing that frequently.
Side One is a return to the song-based work that will be more familiar to Conn’s long-term fans. It sees him starring in an alternate reality workplace sitcom in which he sets up a variety of new business. All six songs clock in around the three-minute mark and begin with the titular track, its violin-led melody suggesting Dexys composing the theme tune to a television drama. Showing admirable versatility or desperation, he offers to fix a drink, unplug a sink, neuter a pet, provide cheap cigarettes and offer financial advice. There is a quite giddy desperation to it. ‘Never Felt Better’ is prime Conn, all stomping glam riffs, boogie piano, backing vocalists proclaiming, “Bobby’s back” and violin adding to its party feel. The enjoyably ridiculous ‘Juicy Goons’ sees Conn stretching to an effortful falsetto.
“If you want to hear some rock and roll, then I’m your man”, he claims on ‘Sixties Babies’ and it is indisputable. While it could be dismissed as retro, it is performed with charming relish and an entertaining dismissal of each era, “sixties babies – almost dead / seventies eighties – sick in the head / nineties babies – stuck in bed.” Aptly, Conn moves onto ‘Nostalgia’, which has an old-time musical hall style, bolstered by Dave Smith’s baritone and tenor sax. Strangely, it sees Conn at his most directly political, wisely pointing out that “this isn’t history, it’s just some old man’s fantasy / you’ve been told how good things used to be / by folks who are old and frightened of mortality / it’s just a lie, protects the status quo… Nostalgia – let’s deny reality / Remember, but never accurately.” Side One ends with ‘Satisfied?’, a mix of insistent drums, boogieing guitar, violin, falsetto and some apocalyptic imagery as it skews the bourgeoise consumer dream.
These six songs are the musical equivalent of reverting to Route One, throwing everything at breaking down a low block before eventually achieving a late, triumphant win at Bobby’s Place,
Bobby Conn: Bobby’s Place – Out 22 August 2025 (Tapete)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
