Tiger Moth Tales - Story Tellers Part Two
We don't deserve Peter Jones. He spent most of 2018 as Andy Latimer's hypercompetent sidekick at Camel, but he still made time to record a sequel to 2015's jaw-dropping Story Tellers Part 1. Jaw-dropping, not just because of how good it was, but how incredibly strange it was. I still can't quite believe it exists.
Part two is equally strange, although the novelty has worn off. It is still a most peculiar mix of vignettes based on well-known fairy- and folktales, some melancholic, others sanguine, others downright hysterical. A lot of it tickles the synapses in a most pleasant way. Jones' work positively bathes in nostalgia. I was particulaly touched by the - otherwise light - song about Toad of Toad Hall, based on the Cosgrove Hall animated film of The Wind In The Willows, of which I have fond memories.
It is also, frankly, one of the silliest albums I have ever heard. The previous one had a slapstick song about the three billy goats gruff, full of funny voices and droll asides (Peter Jones can be, quite literally, a troll). This one doubles down with a song about the three piggies that takes that ball and runs with it. I'm not too sure if that stuff sits all that comfortably alongside the more serious, Hans Christian Andersen-inspired songs. But that's how the Tiger Moth rolls.
I'm sure Peter Jones will make a real masterpiece one day. One day, he will make an album that tops my list. You guessed it: this isn't it. For all his talent, for all the hype surrounding him, there's still the feeling that we've yet to see him at his full potential. The thought of a new Camel album with him on board is becoming extremely tantalizing... Until then, this is a lovely little snack.
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