Cross o'th Hands, Saint Monday (Coth Records, 2003)
This is the third recording from Derbyshire's Cross o'th Hands. Since this is their first Green Man review, a brief glossary is in order. The band takes its name from a tiny Derbyshire hamlet whose name is taken in turn from the bare knuckle fist fighting matches that took place there (illegally) in the nineteenth century. The band feel that 'the whole place has a feeling of Englishness and history about it,' and that the association of hands and the making of music fits nicely too.
All four musicians contribute equally to a cohesive and powerful sound reminiscent in many ways of early Pyewackett: four part vocal harmonies are seamless and creative, and tunes, at first deceptively relaxed in execution, are forceful, driving, and often hypnotic in the intensity of their rhythm. The instrumental sound is essentially defined by the melodeon and fiddle, with guitar and percussion delivering rock solid back up. They are probably unique in having the world's only 'guitouki', a custom guitar/bouzouki combination made by band member John Adams.
Cross o'th Hands are firmly rooted in the soil of their native county. Five of the ten song and tune tracks on the album are either from Derbyshire, or about living, working or playing there.
The title 'Saint Monday' comes from the opening track, Jim Boyes' 'The Nailer's Song', about a one-time local industry. The term describes spending a day off from work in the pub, ostensibly to attend a union meeting. The song is a good introduction to the album and the band, starting off with solo voice and a pulsating guitar accompaniment, quickly building both vocally and instrumentally to showcase skills in both areas.
They also perform as a dance band, and it certainly shows in the instrumental tracks: each instrument has a unique role in the tune, always supporting and complementing the others, and never overpowering the ensemble sound. Arrangements are effective without being too annoyingly clever, and the rhythm is always faultless.
This is a uniformly strong production and it is hard to pick favourites. It is worth mentioning that their rendition of 'All Things Are Quite Silent' ought to become the definitive version of this song, a title Steeleye Span have held (in my opinion) since 1970 and their album Hark the Village Wait. 'The Great Derby Foot Race' is guaranteed to rattle rafters in pub sessions all over England from now on, and the exquisite harmonies in their unique version of 'Four Pence a Day' resound long after the song is over.
If Cross o'th Hands is in your area, go and see them. Their live performance delivers everything that is promised in Saint Monday.
For information on Cross o'the Hands' appearances and other recordings, go here.
