Track Of The Day #887: Micko Westmoreland - Schmescos

Track Of The Day #887: Micko Westmoreland – Schmescos

Micko Westmoreland comes in many guises, most famously as the character Jack Fairy in the film Velvet Goldmine, also a poetic post punk artist in his own right and electronic artist The Bowling Green. Here he treats us to a slice of pop punk poetry accompanied by a music video featuring actor and comedian Kevin Eldon. (currently performing as a travelling actor in Game of Thrones).

The track is fun and epic, with a distinctive retro 60s feel, ‘Schmescos’ opens with a cinematic intensity as a driving bass builds tension, alongside Micko’s stabbing guitar lines. Our shoplifting protagonist is heading in search of excitement and an antidote to the daily routine, where he hopes to participate in the free for all mentality of the economic markets, “cause this monopoly makes you stake a claim.”

The character’s penchant for taking things is indeed an obsession, ‘take me to a doctor’ he sings, as he fills his pockets with special things – the shelves are a metaphor and key to upward mobility, security, love etc. He is the quintessential thrill seeker, who enjoys taking a risk and cutting it as close as he can.

Eldon plays the store detective, always in the wings, making the action ever more exciting and lending a surreal comedic quality of a Beano comic strip brought to life, while Mickey Gallagher (Ian Dury and The Blockheads, The Clash) adds a grinding organ sound aligned with the thief’s footprints pouncing across the store, full-up with swagger.

Mikco Westmoreland ‘Remixes’, is out on Landline Recordings, August 12.

God is in the TV is an online music and culture fanzine founded in Cardiff by the editor Bill Cummings in 2003. GIITTV Bill has developed the site with the aid of a team of sub-editors and writers from across Britain, covering a wide range of music from unsigned and independent artists to major releases.