The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing… Present Good Things

The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing... Present Good Things

This steampunk band count Neil Gaiman & Alan Moore among their fans. They invite you to sample free musical delights in honour of the new Gin Song…

 

We’ve talked about The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing before, because we like them. We like them even though they have a disturbingly long name that’s like an Everest ascent for the lips, but then we like Ripperology too (it’s a reference to the rightly reviled Jack the Ripper) so that’s alright.

It’s always lovely to like a band that no-one’s ever heard of, but – either sadly or fortunately – that’s not the case with The Men. They have a ragged army of Victoriandustrial daggers and dollymops, and the likes of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore count themselves among their fans. The NME has described them with wholly scientific precision as “the leading lights of the Steampunk scene” and they’ve had a **** review from the Independent on Sunday (that’s 4 stars, not s**t, yes? Yes. Jolly good). They’ve achieved all these good things and they didn’t even have to kill anyone to do it! No, they did it without any murder at all. Fear not, dear ones – we who like The Men and will not Blame them for Nothing are in good company, so let us all be woefully beautiful wretches together.

When you look at the band’s line-up it’s like a roll call of Oh Dear Sweet Jesus All The Good Things. Initially consisting of Andy Heintz (formerly of Creaming Jesus) and Andrew O’Neill (who does great Jack the Ripper tours and has previously appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, YES NO REALLY THAT’S PRETTY GOOD ISN’T IT), the band now also features bass guitarist Marc Burrows (stand-up comedian and radio presenter who works for The Guardian) and drummer Jez Miller (who previously bashed skin for Lords of the New Church and Showgirls and is, we suspect, the silent soul of the group, in the same way the Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world).

It’s all so good it makes us tired just thinking about it. But now is not the time to be tired! Grab a gin or the nearest posy of sweet-smelling violets. REVIVE YOURSELF, for The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed… have a new single for your listening pleasure. It’s a socially-minded little number called Third Class Coffin, released on 7th October as a double A side with The Gin Song, a filthy, rabble-rousing anthem with more than a hint of Tom Waits.

To celebrate the launch of the single, The Men… are playing at The Garage in London on 4th October, along with Ed Tudor Pole (YES NO REALLY) and Palehorse (and they’re pretty good too).

To celebrate the gig and the single launch, The Men… invite you to listen to The Gin Song and other delights on their Soundcloud. They’re heavy like a secret you’ll never tell. Heavy like a wastrel’s noggin the morning after the night before. THEY’RE QUITE HEAVY, CHAPS. But very fun, so go listen. I have a particular soft spot for Brunel and Fox, two tracks you’ll hear if you listen right through.

Finally, to celebrate the gig and the single launch and the Soundcloud streaming of The Gin Song, and the, oh, the good things, The Men… have created a new video for a ditty about the industrialisation woes of Victorian London called The Great Stink. As with many of The Men’s songs, it’s both entertaining and historically informative… just like an episode of Horrible Histories. Watch:

So, to wrap it up:

The lesson for today is, if you’ve never heard of Horrible Histories, YOUTUBE IT NOW. Please, just stop what you’re doing and do it. Your life will be changed. You’re welcome. Right after you pre-order The Gin Song, listen to about a million songs on the Soundcloud and consider a jaunt to The Garage in London…

Okay, I’m done. Feeling a bit faint. Done up the old corset too tight, I think. Someone pass me the violets.

Done.