The Razorbills
Album: Like Everybody Else
Label: Lost Wasp
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.therazorbills.co.uk

If you Google razorbills, the first thing you come to is an ungainly black and white seabird that only comes to land to breed, but you see that's the thing the average person that gets to see the lazy bird only gets to see them in their secondary environment, if at all, we don't get to see them in their primary environment simply because we can't get to where they are at their best.

To an extent I thought it was going to be something similar with Scots, roots rock combo The Razorbills. A few lucky people getting to see them in their natural environment, performing on stage, whilst the rest of us, if we get to hear them at all, have to hear them in the slightly less spontaneous recorded medium and on first play through, I suspected I was right, though it was definitely a enjoyable experience.

The second run through of "Like Everybody Else" changed that, this is not a live album, this is a studio album and actually it's a damned good one. There are aspects of their live sound that come through. They have a definitely wry view on song writing, the adage of many a true word said in jest ringing particularly true.

At its heart, "Like Everybody Else" is political album with a number of songs drawing attention to injustice and the drift towards an I'm alright Jack society. The great thing about the Razorbills is that they don't seem to feel that drift is inevitable, with a bit of humour and communication, who knows we might just get along and start/continue caring about things and ultimately the only thing you feel this album lacks is between track banter as it feels very much like a conversation set to some really good tunes and arrangements.

I still get the feeling that The Razorbills feel more at home on stage, but like their avian counterparts, they hit their second home with the creative juices flowing and expecting a good time.

Neil King