Pagan Wanderer Lu – Fight My Battles For Me

The keyboard has come a long way over the years. There was a time you had to pedal to get the damn thing to work, but by the 1980's you too could invest in a keyboard to have in your own home. It would usually have a demo button on it, which was good, because that saved any effort on your part in actually trying to learn how to play the damn thing.These days of course keyboards have evolved to such a degree that you could describe them as having all the bells and whistles ”“ which of course they do, but they've got so much more going on besides rudimentary percussion and wind instruments. But where's the fun in that eh? They don't even sound just a little bit shit, which was always part of the allure of the old keyboards in a funny way.All of which brings us to Pagan Wander Lu, who is somewhat disappointing simply a bloke called Andy Regan and not a shit looking druid robot. He has fully invested in the somewhat backward charm of what most would call "the Casio sound" and coupled it with a simplistic folk approach here and there. Chuck in a few politically charged bon mots and you've got a pretty decent record.Things get off to an uneven start with 'Anger Management' though. The pace is set fairly slow with what can only be described as a pissed up swing. The glitchy effects serve only to make your inner ears shudder causing momentary lapses in balance, but for all of that you can't help but be drawn in by Regan's smart lyrics that reference Pil and manage to cover the explosive angst of the singer whilst managing to sound like the worst lounge band you've ever heard.The swing continues into 'The Gentleman's Game', but the violent interjection of some jagged punked-up guitar draws attention to the fact that this song is in fact about a punch up between some asylum seekers and some young offenders playing a football match.It’s the lyrics of Pagan Wanderer Lu that makes Fight My Battles For Me such an intriguing album and elevates it above the level of a novelty album. Stylistically and intellectually we can't help be reminded of Project Adorno who tread the line between Pet Shop Boys and tweedy librarian with assured aplomb.'Good Christian/Bad Christian' examines the political and religious reasons for war and their ramifications on a parochial level. In other hands such a political bent would be a bit cloying but here, enswathed in seething electronica and fundamentally catchy hooks, it works surprisingly well.There are plenty of smart moments throughout this album. Telling the Tree of Knowledge to "fuck my apples" is up there as a favourite. The Zappa infused freakout that introduces itself like a retarded troll during '2.0//The Bridge of Sighs' is another high point. Most of Pagan's best moments come in lyrical form though. Telling lines such as "Poppies we buy to remember, they sell to forget in Afghanistan" are scattered around this record with gay abandon. Unfortunately by the end, Regan's plain vocal delivery does begin to drag on your patience, but digested in bite sized chunks, the wisdom comes through untarnished.Ultimately Fight My Battles For Me is a little overlong and in places a little underdone. But for those flashes of brilliance this is an album that's well worth a punt. 70%Pagan Wanderer Lu on MySpace