Cock-A-Hoop

A good album from a Great band

Disclaimer: I've been a fan since hearing The Colours around 1989. Every TMTCH album has its merits and it would be unreasonable to expect every track to be a crowd pleasing classic but Cock A Hoop has more than you would expect a 35 year old band to have. Live, the band can still really pack a punch and this album has some tracks that sound as good live as The Ghosts Of Cable Street, Bounty Hunter, Ironmasters and many others from the early years. Stand out tracks for me, in no particular order, are Salutations, Arrow, Three Ships Sailing, Sirens and King Street Serenade. Five stand out tracks and no real filler is a pretty good hit rate and it's been on heavy rotation for quite a while now. More of this sort of thing please!

We’ve had to do a lot of driving lately and this new album from TMTCH has really grown on me as it’s been on repeat in the CD player. It’s a bit more laid back than some of their other offerings, but that’s just fine with me. The rabble rousing songs are still there in Right Time Right Place Right Song and others, and I like the references back to earlier days (the little rif from Ironmasters at the end of one of the songs), but actually I’m particularly enjoying the ballads; Sirens and Three Ships in particular. The production values in the latter are superb, though I also really enjoyed the acoustic version performed at the Borderline last December. King St Serenade is another favourite. Keep up the good work guys!

I cannot believe that it is 34 years since I bought my first MTCH album - I was a feisty 16 year old back then and their sound and their lyrics really resonated. I have bought every album I am now a more mellow 50 year old and I find that this album suits me just fine - I found it quirky and interesting. Ballads, rants and shanties says the publicity above - spot on! Three Ships Sailing is so beautiful (if you get the chance to listen to it on a misty morning as you drive across Gower, do it!) .A classic? I think so ...

How difficult it must be for any artist/band to maintain a trademark sound and yet try at the same time to move forward with the changing times.For me, after the storming return to form that was "The Defiant" this feels a bit lukewarm.There's lots (maybe too many) of different sounds in the mixture here but very few of the numbers sound like bona fide TMTCH classics. In fact, in places musically and lyrically it meanders along when the band are at their best when ramming the message home.I love this band and hope this is just a blip till the next barnstormer comes along.If you like TMTCH then you will probably enjoy this album as I did but a classic sadly it isn't.

You know it’s gonna be great

After reading some fairly lacklustre reviews above (or below), I wasn’t expecting much. So it is good to report they are all wrong, this is a really fine ‘The Men’ album. The playing, production and musicianship are all top notch. All very pleasant, and a good listen. A worthy addition for the fans. I had no idea there was another album in the making, so discovering this fairly late in the say was great.

Not heard of any of their stuff since the 1980sI was impressed by the this new Album very good took me back to cable street and more,Think I have a lot catching up to do