The Macc Lads' fourth album, following on from the superlative sickness of Live at Leeds, was the brilliantly titled From Beer to Eternity and it is...well, it's more or less exactly the same as every other
Macc Lads album, and that's exactly as it should be. More songs about beer, sex, and cigarettes, shot through with even more of each, From Beer to Eternity is like an evening spent with the most obnoxiously foul-mouthed drunkard you've ever befriended, and so single-minded that you know what half the songs are going to do before you've even cracked the shrink wrap. "Alton Towers," complaining about the lack of alcohol at the theme park of the same name; "All Day Drinking," bemoaning the lack of alcohol available at the local branch of McDonalds; "My Pub," mourning the redevelopment of the band's favorite drinking place -- by the time you reach "Dead Cat," you are almost gagging for a change of subject. And you almost get one, although the deceased feline still has to share its lyrical space with another ode to ale. And on and on and on it goes, until even the swear words sound normal and your world, like that of the Macc Lads, will revolve around the simplest pleasures in the world. Yes, beer and sex and cigarettes. ~ Dave Thompson