Cargo Records

Abba Are The Enemy

Abba are the enemy is the debut album by Tom Hingley and the Lovers, who feature Inspiral Carpets singer Tom Hingley, Steve Hanley and Paul Hanley from Manchester punk band The Fall. It was released in 2004. Steve's signature muscular, rubbery bass is instantly recognisable, but they don't sound much like The Fall.

Instead The Lovers serve up classic garage punk; edgy organ and guitar dominate. Hingley's lyrics and singing cover the good and the bizarre: "I'm gonna live my life as a tiny horse" he yells at one point. He lashes out in all directions, with some shrewd observations on Courtney Love on "Hole" and attacks prescription drugs on "Online Pharmacy". The result is a passionate collection of punk-pop that punches hard and delivers much. This is not the sound of a band wanting a number one or any sort of chart recognition. It is the sound of a band that has been there before, tasted the industry and tired of it, that has decided that the best course is their own course, and it is all the better for it. True enough, the music is an amalgamation of the sounds of the Inspirals and the Fall (keyboardist Kelly Wood does a fine job on swirling sound of the Farfisa), but it doesn’t lag in those influences. Yeah spikes and tantrums around, I Feel Old spews punk and fire, Online Pharmacy spins and twists on the melody line, and Boyband is a lesson in pop subversion. True to its punk heart, Abba Are The Enemy is gone after 35 minutes, leaving behind it a trail of solid destruction and a pair of ears that feel kicked, abused, sermonised and roaringly entertained.