As the driving force behind cult Welsh outfit Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Euros Childs has been involved in some of the most underrated music of the last ten years. Now, Pembrokeshire's finest export has taken a break from Gorky's to release his first solo effort, and I can tell you it's not bad either.

Having been in Gorky's since he was 15, perhaps the time was right for Childs to do his own thing. One thing for sure is that he has produced a collection of songs which wouldn't have lowered the bar on any of his band's releases, covering styles as varied as country and the psychedelic folk you might expect.

Chops is only 33 minutes long, but as history has proved it is quality not quantity that really matters. Put together in a room in his parents' house over a three-month period, most of the songs on the album are short and sweet.

Take opening track, Billy The Seagull - a Beta Band style little ditty with no instrumentation - which finds Childs sounding as though he has just woken up. The reason is that he had: after writing the song in a dream he picked up the dictaphone next to his bed and drowsily recorded it at 3am. Well, otherwise he might have forgotten all about it in the morning.

From that sleepy mode the mood is a lot chirpier on the bouncy Donkey Island, featuring ex-Gorky John Lawrence on pedal steel. An upbeat electronic number, the opening to what was the first single release sounds like something you might imagine those purple-suited lounge-lizards before the programmes on E4 would play. A world away from the folksy psychedelia of Gorky's, but a lot of fun.

There is a sense of humour throughout the album. Lyrics like; "Donkeys are like you and me" underpin this, on a song inspired by a version of the Can-Can performed by 70s Krautrock icons Can. As that would have been, it really isn't meant to be taken seriously, and this is a laid-back feeling that permeates the whole release.

There are three Welsh language tracks on Chops, and I don't know about you but I think there's something fascinating about the Welsh tongue. Just listen to Dawnsio Dros Y Mor (which translated means Dancing Across The Sea, by the way). It sounds like such a spectacularly complicated language that it is mesmerising and you find yourself humming along just as if it was in English.

Hi Mewn Socasau, meanwhile (that's Her In Leggings for those not fluent in Welsh) sounds like John Lennon of the Valleys. The Poodle Rockin' of the album, this piano rocker tells the story of a guy in 19th century Wales getting it on with a lady blacksmith... as you do.

The humour continues with Latin-tinged ballad Costa Rica. Complete with shakers, for that samba authenticity, Childs tells the tale of a feller working on his brother's ice-cream stall who becomes romantically involved with a peanut vendor. Just like with blacksmiths, I'm sure it happens all the time.

Despite the bizarre and admittedly amusing themes, the endearing quality of the music is not lost. Even the three-part folksy Stella Is A Pigmy, all three parts being under a minute in length, are in no way simply album fillers.

Perhaps the most Gorky's sounding song on this fantastic solo debut by Childs is Circus Time. Wistful piano-melancholia, it is heartbreakingly beautiful. When Euros' sister Megan enters on violin it's enough to bring you to tears.

  share with:  Facebook | Digg | other sites