Jeffrey Lewis : 12 Crass Songs

Anyone who has the idea to cover a Crass song in a folk(y) style must be crazy. To record a full album of such compositions would seem like the worst idea in the history of popular music. The end result would have to sound like an unfunny joke. The Wurzels covering Anarchy In The Uk anyone? How Jeffrey Lewis came up with this idea is anyone's guess and how anyone could give him the encouragement and help in turning the idea into an actual project is unfathomable. But do it he did and guess what, it turns out it wasn't a bad idea at all. Crass songs were never written with acoustic guitars, strings, tinkly piano and girlie backing vocals but Lewis pulls it all together and with help of some subtle lyric changes along with some not so subtle, brings the whole thing bang up to date. I can imagine hardcore Crass devotees being horrified by their beloved songs (and politics) being sabotaged by an American (anti) folk musician but what Lewis does is prove that you can get the same message across without having to scream at the top of your voice. Of course on a project like this some songs work better than others, Banned From The Roxy, I A'int Thick and Where Next Columbus? being the best of the bunch but the album certainly works surprisingly well as a whole.
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