New Model Army
From page 51 of Classic Rock Magazine December 2009
Today Is A Good Day
A7ACK ATTACK
A little bit of politics... Passionate, eloquent, hard for music journalists to pigeonhole... here are many reasons why people still admire New Model Army three decades after their formation, and all are present on this 11th release. Long-time fans will appreciate the title is ironic: today is not a good day. Never knowingly cheerful, the Bradford rockers take the Wall Street crash as their lyrical jump-off point on the title track, before turning their focus to dead squaddies (State Radio), ruined crops (Bad Harvest) and seasonal chagrin ("everything is beautiful, because everything is dying," sighs Justin Sullivan on Autumn). It's a bold record, and a largely successful one, as the music takes in everything from goth baselines to Beatles-style acoustic strumathons. The flow is only compromised by a handful of meat 'n' potatoes rock numbers and Sullivan's earnest vocal delivery on stripped-back cuts like God Save Me. ••••••• Henry Yates


