David M Rangel / November 18, 2025 / Reviews
Eric Goulden, professionally known as Wreckless Eric, may not be a household name in America. But it’s likely you have heard his biggest hit, 1977’s “Whole Wide World”. The tune, which has one of the shortest, catchiest choruses ever written, has been featured in movies, television, and national podcasts. It has also been covered by multiple recording artists such as The Monkees, Cage the Elephant, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day and The Proclaimers. It’s an exuberant punk meets bubblegum-rock meets garage rock song that established Eric‘s place in musical history when he was with celebrated British independent label, Stiff Records.
In the years since that single’s initial success, Eric has been putting out records under a number of different names including Captains of Industry, Eric Goulden, the Len Bright Combo and the Hitsville House Band. It was under the Captains of Industry moniker that he released A Roomful Of Monkeys, in 1985.
A Roomful Of Monkeys was a disaster and a disappointment to Eric. The record was ignored, and when it was acknowledged, it was mostly met with derision. But, even with the disappointment of the recorded album, Eric felt the songs marked his “coming of age“ as a songwriter. It gave him a feeling of liberation to be writing songs about familiar things he knew, on his own terms. He no longer had record label executives telling him what to write about and controlling his direction as a songwriter. Forty years after A Roomful Of Monkeys, the songs from that record have been used as the basis for songs on England Screaming.The result is a group of tunes that is sonically superior and backed with decades more musical and life experience.
This record is at its commercially-strongest with the new wave-ish opening track “Lifeline”. The song, which was pre-released as a single, captures the flavor of a classic mid-70s era where Eric and artists such as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and Mink Deville were blurring the lines between punk and new wave, while unconsciously drawing up the plans for what would later become alternative music. “Lifeline” shows that Eric has not lost his knack for writing short, hook-laden choruses. This one comes out and “pops” as if out of nowhere, creating a hopeful, infectious ear worm along with the more lonely feel of the verses.
Eric has always worn his Britishness on his sleeve. His thick English accent, which is the same as when he was a young man, gives a certain character and non-processed honesty to the songs. His vocals have also remained eternally youthful, giving off a punky, confident delivery, regardless of the songs’ tempos. There’s a distinctly British feel to the music which at times can be whimsical and give off an air of artists like Robin Hitchcock and Syd Barrett during his Piper At The Gates Of Dawn era with Pink Floyd.
Just as The Beatles often had characters existing in some of the mundane aspects of life (Eleanor Rigby, Lovely Rita, Rocky Raccoon, etc.), Eric also sometimes takes the British-centric approach of incorporating characters in his songs, whether they are named or insinuated. There’s the couple who dwell in “the best house in the street“ (“Lady Of The Manor”), the girls with “mousey wigs” (“Land Of The Faint At Heart” – a song with some particularly ear-catching background vocals) and the unnamed characters who move about through the reality of an often humdrum existence. The tunes, at times, sound more like journal entries, lyrically documenting the utter normalcy of everyday life, rather than the over-the-top bravado of more commercial songs.
England Screaming is less of an evolution of Eric’s sound and more of a summation of improvements and growth made by a writer whose musical agenda has remained mostly unchanged throughout his career. He continues to offer no frills, at times lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll that lacks self-consciousness. The album is a comfortable pop/punk/new wave/garage/classic rock outing where you can expect the “expected”. But that’s ok. Because whether Eric is bringing the vibes of a teenage party, the quirky, semi-theatrical sounds of early 70s songs by The Who, or any other previously well-covered musical territory, he does it with a sense of inexplicable sincerity that can’t be taught or learned.
This record will likely be appealing to longtime fans who remember the flavor of Eric‘s music when he was new on the scene. But the raucous, unaffected youth style that Eric has always possessed is intact. It is timeless enough where it could appeal to younger audiences who may be just discovering punk, power pop, or any number of British rock acts in the 70s. All in all, the ride is fun. The rocking and rolling can sometimes give in to subdued, airy quirkiness. But a crisp, whip smart vocal hook is never far away.
The albums is out everywhere tomorrow, November 21st on Tapete Records. Listen to the track “Lady of the Manor” here.
The Indy Review 