Rudolf Rocker – The Whitby Scar review

Rudolf Rocker, named one would assume after the anarchist of the same name, deliver ‘The Whitby Scar’, a concept album about the North Yorkshire town, the surrounding area and the legends that surround the seaside destination.

Starting with the low key ‘Showerbath of the Patriarchs’, the album mixes up folk sounds with story-based lyrics all around the said theme. Second track ‘Hand of Glory’ sounds like a recipe mixed up with the closest folk will ever get to rap whilst also, randomly, channelling that old festive hymn ‘We Three Kings’ and Terry Deary’s ‘Horrible Histories’ series. It’s a strange mix but it works, and leads nicely into my favourite song on the album ‘Hole of Horcum’, the title of which allows the location to be mixed with a quality pun.

Redressing the balance of Lancashire having all the fun with tongue in cheek humour thanks to their Hotpots band, it’s great to hear Yorkshire locations being name-checked amongst the story of camping, tourism and, er, nose-picking, all layered over a catchy accordion-led tune.

‘Ugglebarnby Blues’ mixes the style mentioned in the title with some monologue verses before we swap styles on ‘Boosbeck Bossa Nova’, a three-minute instrumental that breaks up the storytelling of the album with a plethora of instruments coming together for the gentle interval.

‘Creteblock’ is a sombre turn for the album and the first one that sounds like it’s been given a bit more production-trickery time than the others with some of the vocal effects. Slower and dream-like, it’s not one of more favourite tracks but good all the same. ‘Gytrash of Goathland’ that comes next is a particular highlight of the album with a catchy hook of a chorus, combining a speech that wouldn’t be out of place in Macbeth’s opening witches scene, telling an interesting story over its considerable five-minute running time, that builds and develops to become one of the best songs on the thirteen-song LP.

‘Penny Hedge’ welcomes in a piano and is much more up-tempo to what has preceded it and slightly more poppy. Though I keep wanting to wander into the theme to Penny Crayon in my head it’s a good three minutes, and there’s still time to nod in the direction of the Beatles with some ‘Yellow Submarine’ style secondary vocals.

‘Burnt House’ is one of the weaker tracks on the album but at least doesn’t outstay its welcome as the shortest track on the piece. ‘Running Reverend’ is another highlight of the album, drawing inspiration from the old song ‘Knees Up Mother Brown’ as its starting point before mixing in some synth sounds and a general perky feeling, before dipping back into the child’s songbook by interpolating ‘Run Rabbit Run’ into it. The familiarity in the song is obvious and they’re effective building blocks to a definite listen on the album.

‘Martyr’s Jig’ returns to the sea-shanty style of several of the tracks, fitting with the theme of Whitby, with ‘Hidden Harbour’ being more reflective but still throwing in some word play into the lyrics. Though slower it’s a fitting entry as the album comes to its conclusion and would have made a great closer, but we still have ‘Maidens’ Garlands’ yet to come which starts with a lengthy introduction before continuing the sombre style that dominates the end of the album. What words are there are good but I feel it should have ended on track twelve.

Overall, ‘The Whitby Scar’ is an enjoyable concept album to listen to with clear production, interesting lyrics and a range of music wide enough to keep you interested. Though it can be argued the best track is near the start there is still enough on the other side of the album to peak your interest and it’s well worth a download if you like a mixture of storytelling, lighthearted lyrics and, well, Yorkshire themes over folk accordion tunes or even if you just want to hear something that’s calm and interesting to have playing over your speakers that you can follow as a musical journey around the North Yorkshire coast.