Beans on Toast – Wild Goose Chasers Review

Few things are certain in life. Hangovers after an excessive review of cocktail options at a bar, the passage of time and a Beans on Toast album release to mark the final month of the year. Wild Goose Chasers marks a return to what Jay McAllister, Mr Beans himself, does best. Light offerings at a time when darkness prevails. He is not setting the world alight with Wild Goose Chasers but offers a fine balance between contemporary terror in the face of world-ending choices and the frivolity we must let into our lives. McAllister has always been a strong hand at this and his latest effort is no change to this welcome schedule of sincerity stretched over half an hour. Instrumental openings, sudden ends and everything expected of a Beans on Toast release can be found here.  

Crucially though these offerings have not yet lost their charm. Those throaty and hoarse desires are still prevalent and Wild Goose Chasers have a powerful sense in these early moments. Faith in the Moon may have those frivolous nods of big or little things falling apart but when paired with the hearty piano, the layer McAllister brings with his vocals, there is much to enjoy. An album of keeping the faith should be no surprise. We have been told to hold on tight for a decade now and it is not up to McAllister to change the groundwork. All he can do is respond to the world around him which remains unchanged, it is still a cold place. But these shimmers of hope are a reminder, a genuine attempt at mustering up the courage to remain positive. Difficult it is to do that, now more than ever, McAllister is a solid pair of hands to fall back onto, and Wild Goose Chasers remains a spry album asking people to make their luck, to make a go of it even amid those doubts.  

Piano-oriented songs these may be, they never shake the saloon-like feel and in that comes a tongue-in-cheek flavour. “Variety is the spice of life,” McAllister gruffly puts on Variety, a song which fits right into place among the other, similar-sounding piano riffs. To be fair to Beans on Toast the point of releasing an album a year is to match a genre to the tone of the year and to continue without touching on it again, to have concluded an avenue of creative interest on one album. Interesting this approach is for listeners; it does mean the overlap from album to album is an outwardly-facing piece. There is little time for true intimacy when the times of change are what McAllister must sing of.  

He has his head and his heart firmly set on what few highs there are to be had in a year and makes good on those, wrapping them up with the miseries of the year. It feels like a choppy conclusion at times with Boring Dystopia a lull in what is otherwise a strong selection of work. Oh, What a Life gets to the core of these Wild Goose Chasers meanings. Our continuous search for joy is what makes or breaks us, Wild Goose Chasers is a tool to use while getting to those moments of positivity or as a distraction from the harsher moments of the year. Myths & Legends is one of the finer tracks, where Beans on Toast finds the tenderness of these piano-led songs and the lyrical consistencies needed to carry those soppy splashes. Wild Goose Chasers may play with broad strokes but there is no denying the heart and charm found within. Soft ragtime work from McAllister is a joy and the Beans on Toast style finds its way through, the joys of companionship in times of strife are a highlight reserved for The Glorious Fool, but the spirit lingers throughout.