Miss Halliwell – Rulerfueller

It’s a dull, grey Monday morning. It’s piddling it down. And yet I’m merrily smacking my hands on the kitchen table (that’s as close as I get to playing an instrument) like a man possessed. The reason? MissHalliwell’s new single Rulerfueller, the latest perfectly aimed missive from Miles Perhower and his band of merry souls.

If you have a week or two to spare and take a look back over this blog...all seven years of it...you’ll see that I’ve had a bit of a Miss Halliwell / Miles Perhower fetish. They’re one of just a handful of bands I keep returning to and there’s a very good reason for this. In an increasingly unfair world (you only have to drink in the news today that ‘our’ government is basically putting the future of energy production in the UK in the hands of foreign companies and investors, guaranteeing them a minimum price per megawatt hour of energy produced that’s TWICE the current level...oh yes my friends, heat and light’s about to become a luxury good...) Miss Halliwell are one of the few bands bothering to speak out. The fact that they do so with tunes that manage to be both awkward and yet strangely catchy at the same time is a mystery that I’ve not quite figured out.

I’ve referenced The Fall before because they’re possibly the only other band that come close to doing this, unlike that nice Mr Smith though you can actually make out pretty much everything that Miles has to say for himself. “Depression is contagious and deadly strains continue to evolve” intones Miles dolefully “Can’t we find a reason why we need a kick up the arse?” Amen to that. Aside from the ‘riots’ of a few years ago (which were more to do with grabbing the latest mindless gizmo or pair of trainers than grabbing power or protesting against anything) we seem to be living in strangely apathetic times. I blame the internet. It’s alarmingly easy to cocoon yourself in a blanket of snaps of kittens doing the washing up, lists of the 12 best lightbulb jokes of all time and...well...blogs like this, in the process forgetting what the hell’s going on in the ‘real world’. This apathy – and whilst it applies to pretty much every generation those under 30 are probably getting the rawest deal of all – is presumably the ‘Rulerfueller’ that Miles and co speak of so engagingly here. Still, as long as there’s a new series of X Factor to watch life ain’t so bad is it eh? Eh?

Music can do a lot of things. It can make you laugh, it can make you cry, it can make you sing along and dance like a loon...all valuable stuff certainly...but at its very best it can also make you think. And that's why, especially given the musical blandscape out there right now, Miss Halliwell matters more than ever. 

Rulerfueller is out to buy right now right here.