Mike Scott has always had a little Jagger swagger, fancying himself a rock n roll troubadour, yachtsman’s cap and all. It’s not definitional, per se, to his wide-ranging song-writing cannon, but it’s there in anthems such as “The Whole of the Moon,” “Everything is Rags,” and, most notably, “The Big Music.”
Nearly two decades ago Scott and his merry band of sidemen, The Waterboys, released Room to Roam to largely negative notices. Critics and long-term fans were annoyed with the band’s foray into folksier territory. Ditties such as “When Will We Be Married” and “A Man is in Love” perplexed the rock n roll faithful.
Scott, never one to be bothered by the critics, seems to have revisited those negative notices prior to sitting down and penning “Where the Action Is,” the video for which was recently pushed to Youtube.
The subtitle for the song could well read: “Mick Scott searches for a party.” There can be no way Scott’s not evoking the famous Mick Jagger lips in the clip, and I’d be willing to wager a few spins of Sticky Fingers provided at least some level of inspiration.
It’s always been tough to assess whether Mike Scott writes music for himself or for his audience. Perhaps he jogs from one end of the spectrum to the other depending on his whims. “Where the Action Is,” it seems, is meant to be a crowd-pleaser. I’d say it’s rather successful in that regard.
– Mitch Hurst
