The 1:20 Service from Edinburgh to Leeds

Edward Hopper - Compartment C Car 293 (1938)

On the 1:20 service from Edinburgh station,

Through Newcastle, Sheffield, and Leeds;

Delayed on approach for 10 minutes at Preston,

And a further 3 minutes by me.

As I boarded the carriage with courage and luggage,

And sat down in seat 24B,

My heart took a leap as you glanced at my seat,

Then sat across the aisle from me.

What beauty and wonder in futures I ponder,

Clandestinely await you and me;

I sought your eye as you stared at the sky,

and listlessly appraised the sea.

When looking right to admire the sights,

You surreptitiously caught my gaze;

I snapped down to my book and dared not to look,

In case you thought me crazed.

O, girl of no name, with one destination,

How perfectly preserved you are,

With dusty sun-light on soft hair and dark tights,

As distant from me as the stars.

And when the train pulled into Newcastle,

As you began to ready your things,

I wept in despair at the sight of your hair,

which I shall never now see up in rings.

Call off the engagement! Illicit romance,

Return the children to sender;

Undo the kisses we shared in our home,

Refund the aga and blender!

For what can you say to a girl in a way

That conveys one's most desperate thoughts,

Without being arrested, imprisoned, molested,

And strung up by court after court?

So as you rose to leave my life, 
My eyes alone perceived my strife,

I begged for one last requiting glance;

And as you buckled your coat,

Fate clutched at my throat,

And our eyes met by sweet, heavenly chance.

I shall miss you, my love, of an hour and a half,

Who departed, Newcastle at three,

On the 1:20 service from Edinburgh station,

Who sat across the aisle from me.

Though perhaps not as much, for fate twists as such,

And a heart is too quick to betray,

As the girl who got on, after you'd gone,

And sat down in seat 24A.

Louise Distras - Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade EP Review

Louise Distras

  Young, wild, & armed with acoustic guitar, Louise Distras sings of desperate situations, dodging bullets, final stands and hostile towns with the coarse emotional vigour of a reckless outlaw pleading to the heavens for deliverance from the hell of a barren life. Her anthemic melodies and refrains grab hold with a fierce bite, whilst her lyrics are fraught with futile sentiments, fearful vulnerability, and aggressive defiance, reflecting an adept eye for the frustration of trying to escape a fruitless life in a town where only love and resentment grow.

  Her voice cuts through the tracks with the same visceral intimacy as on Jamie T's 'Panic Prevention', or Billy Bragg's 'Levi Stubbs' Tears'; whilst the acoustic guitar rattles out a cascade of chords with the same relentless vibrancy of Neutral Milk Hotel's songs about mutant children and poorly conceived monarchies.

  Folk-punk may strike some as somewhat of a contradiction in stylistic terms, but Ms. Distras ties the fast-paced aggression of Joe Strummer's Wild-West rebellious attitude to the rustic charm of the current 'folk revival' with jaunty skill, and the resultant sound is something distinctive, appealing, instantly memorable, and pleasantly indelible.

  Louise Distras' EP, 'Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade' is short, at three tracks, but fierce; like a musically inclined Gimli. The strength of this vignette is in the diversity between the tracks displayed within a fairly restrictive playing style. 'Black and Blue' is an upbeat and lively number, with lots of catchy whistling and whimsical fancying, but the lyrics have more in common with 'Jackson Cage' than Eliza Doolittle and there's a followable narrative structure, which is a welcome refreshment from the erratic mumblings of singers whose concept of lyrics is just the vacuous filler to hold stupid people's attention until the bass kicks in. 

  Opener, 'Bullets', has a strong refrain that feels instantly familiar and Distras builds well upon it, making the song feel like a personal anthem for a disjointed youth, rambling around the same ineludible streets. 'This is Your Life' has much the same feel, though there's an element of the politically charged that supports the '-punk' suffix to this hybrid genre, and it comes across as one of the strongest tracks because of it. There's real fury and commitment in these songs and the minimalistic instrumentation only amplifies the personal expression that's at the core of Ms. Distras' appeal.

   
  Overall I give Louise Distras' 'Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade' an animal rating of: Slow Loris. Don't be deceived; it may be short, instantly likeable, and something you will want to own, but this animal will still claw the skin from your face if you get it riled. Don't underestimate it.