Let England Shake - PJ Harvey

I wish all history lessons could've been like this; raw ringing guitars, baffling rhythms and off beat bugles.

Mind you, my history teacher Mr. Coxon was entertaining enough. Oscar Coxon was not a man to be triffled with. He ruled the humanity block with steely prescision and piercing glares; glares that were usually followed by a bellow barking orders or reprimands. He was the Brian Blessed of Henry Smith Comprehensive.

This terror followed him into the classroom, at least at first, as no one, not even the cockiest of kids dared fall out of line. Just a glance at the clock was enough to elicit a withering 'Am I boring you Stanton?'. The rhetorical questions to end all rhetorical questions. Answer it at your peril. Then there was the widely flashing cane, whooshing around as some battle technique or other was demonstrated. We never actually witnessed the cane hit any body part but the spectacle was enough for us to know that we wanted to keep our precious fleshy bits as far away as possible.

Only once did the hard exterior expression falter. During one particularly frenzied reenactment he caught his glasses with a glancing blow and they flew across to room. He smirked but no one dared join him. Just in case.

But after a while terror was replaced by respect. Respect for the knowledge he possessed and respect for the energy and passion with which it was taught.

And no one can doubt that PJ Harvey lacks either. The opening title track takes a pulsing rhythm and adds obscure instruments to create a glorious cacophony. Then there is 'The Glorious Land' with it off beat bugle and wonderful lyric.

It is a fantastically different and challenging album and one that deserves a chance. At first it will seem so odd, harsh almost, that you'll struggle to play it through again. Once you do though you'll be rewarded in spades. And if you allow me one self indulgent comparison to my old history teacher, 'Let England Shake' seems at first to be more than a little frightening. After a while though you'll have nothing but respect for this truly individual record. Not so sure about the cane though... maybe it's in there somewhere?