Track Listing

1. The Box
2. The Wrote & The Writ
3. Tickle Me Pink
4. Brown Trout Blues
5. Eyeless In Holloway
6. Shore To Shore
7. Cold Bread
8. Wayne Rooney
9. Leftovers
10. Sally
11. Hong Kong Cemetry
12. Tunnels
13. All The Dogs Are Lying Down
14. Shore To Shore - reprise

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22109 in Music
• Released on: 2008-07-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Lost Highway debut album from British singer songwriter, Johnny Flynn. Flynn's music is brimming over with heart, soul and intelligence. Drawing on diverse influences - The Pixies, Vaughn Williams and anti-folk pioneer Dianne Cluck are all name checked on his Myspace page - Johnny draws on a century's worth of Folk, Blues and Country to create a sound that dwells profoundly in the now.

Acknowledging his debt to these musical traditions but never being overwhelmed by them, Johnny Flynn offers an alternative of substance to those who have grown sick of flimsy singer songwriters and their inane observations. A Larum was recorded deep in the Seattle countryside with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Strokes, Regina Spektor) at his secluded Bear Creek studio. Here they managed to capture the raw energy of Johnny Flynn's shows, underpinning the acoustic guitar, cello and ukulele with muscular drums and bass.

Johnny Flynn Photos

Amazon.com
The title, A Laurum, is Old English for "alarm," and certainly Johnny Flynn's debut is setting off bells. One of the guiding lights of Britain's folk revival, Flynn, 24 at the time of recording, is equal parts busking troubadour and past-century romantic poet. In 13 original songs, where he's backed by his band the Sussex Wit, Flynn muses on death, sex, God, and the wretched state of humanity, often with pointed wit and even sharper intelligence. Melding English/Irish folk songs, American blues, and influences as vast as the Pixies, Richard Thompson, the Pogues, Pentangle, and the literary sensibility of Henry David Thoreau and Shakespeare, he takes listeners on a spirited romp through vivid stories set in cemeteries, trash bins, and churches. The boy, it must be said, has a cheek, asking, on "Shore to Shore," "Jesus, won’t you please us, 'cos you seem a damn nice guy." Lacing his jangly, freewheeling songs with a gypsy's wagon of instruments, Flynn and company often seem like characters out of Chaucer, marking time and making the best of things before the inevitable Grim Reaper. Not to be missed: "The Box," "Hong Kong Cemetry" [sic], and "Leftovers." Simply smashing. -– Alanna Nash

MOJO, 2008
Four Stars! "Flynn can be hailed as the new voice of olde England".

Customer Reviews

Intelligent, musical, and mature
I received this CD from Vine without expectations, not even aware of Flynn by name. I didn't listen to it for a couple of days, thinking the cover and inserts looked a bit overworked and pretentious. Then I put it in the stereo for a 4-hour drive and ended up playing it 4 times, back to back. The simple, folksy arrangements of guitar, banjo, fiddle, and cello are simultaneously loose, joyous, musical, and sophisticated. Harmonies are rich, straightforward, and as pretty as some of Gillian Welsh's best work. But the album keeps rewarding repeated listening because the playing never feels over-rehearsed or polished: it feels spontaneous and energetic, without contrivance or posing. I'm reminded of Robin Hitchcock, who always manages to stay real despite the complexity of his songs, a sign of great musicianship, I think. I am also very pleasantly reminded of Joe Strummer in his post-depression, self-aware, rejoicing Mescaleros period: perfectly rough and unrefined vocals that miss the notes just so, refuse to stay straight on the beat, and always communicate Flynn's enrgy and enthusiasm. This would be enough for a very listenable 4-star album, but Flynn and his band manage even more: several of these songs are truly brilliant, and the playing is spot-on, like a small live show on a great night. Intimate, energetic, musical, authentic, joyous. I haven't felt this much excitement for a new album in a long time.

Contemporary caravan music
Johnny Flynn is a modern gypsy (as are, apparently, his band the Sussex Wit--unless that's just the name of his mongrel gypsy dog). At least that's how 'A Larum' sounds: songs written by and about those playing on the road, in the Underground, in a field, under a bridge, under the stars. Best listened to while on a road trip, or tramping about with a rucksack. Use of this album anywhere near a discotheque will likely result in death by culture shock.

Flynn's unique voice and the often unusual guitar work give each song a character that sticks in the ears: no song-after-song-running-together here.

The cleverly suggestive "Leftovers" can best be described as rollicking, while some of the most poetic lyrics on the disc are found in "The Wrote & the Writ" ("I'll soon forget what was never there/Your words are ash and dust/All that's left is the song I've sung/The breath I've taken and the one I must").

But the pulse of the album is heard in "The Box," which not only starts the CD off but also contains most of the elements the rest of the songs tease out individually.

More, please.

Original sound
I had never heard of this musician before, the description just sounded interesting. This is a very good CD. It feels like they are singing in your living room or like a bunch of (talented) friends are playing around the campfire. I found it really raw and original and very relaxing.
The music is there, real music, not a bunch of overkill enhanced stuff you hear too often now.
Good stuff.