Richard Thompson’s acid tongue has always been more than a match for his quicksilver instrumental virtuosity and today’s new song finds both his pen and guitar in fine form. Politicians are no new target for this deeply under-appreciated singer-songwriter, but the antiwar “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” cuts even deeper than usual. If you’re not distracted by the twisting, gnarled guitar work — check the solo Thompson drops halfway through — you’ll hear lyrics that put the Iraq war in stark, violent language: “Out in the desert there’s a soldier lying dead/ vultures pecking the eyes out of his head.”
— David Marchese
