The FB Pocket Orchestra with Mike Deighan
Album: Boot That Thing
Label: FB
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.fbpocketorchestra.co.uk

With a modern sounding title like "Boot That Thing" you might be thinking that this would be an album of contemporary songs, but that would probably also be without taking into account Mike Deighan and his role in the folk and jazz revival in the Sixties as well as his pivotal role in The Temperance Seven.

The FB Pocket Orchestra are a band of half that size and perhaps taking a few decades off the sound with "Boot That Thing" firmly establishing its self with a between the wars sound that incorporates everything from tea dances to a more sophisticated night club style dining.

The FB Pocket Orchestra are made up of three multi instrumentalists, Ollie Corbin, Paul Stevenson and Jenny Russell who as well as playing provides the delightfully silky vocals, that also capture a real sense of fun and cheek, particularly when performing songs like "Dinah" and "My Girl's Pussy".

As you can imagine with songs from the likes of Scott Joplin, Skip James and Irving Berlin, this is an eclectic and at times eccentric collection of material that really captures that era of flappers and open topped tourers, friends gathered around the gramophone dancing or just listening to the music carefree and right with the world.

With the exception of a couple six strings the instrumentation is of the era as well. To be honest I don't know if that adds anything to the sound, but it certainly does to the authenticity and either way it's difficult if not impossible to fault the sound, which ignoring the lack of crackles and hiss sounds like it could simply have been lifted off a series of 78 recordings.

A couple of years ago I would probably have described The FB Pocket Orchestra with Mike Deignan as niche, but there is definitely a move to rediscover both the sound and feel of that between the wars era, with a number of groups reflecting the period, "Boot That Thing" is an album right at the top of that particular tree.

Neil King