Big Special – National Average
The Birmingham duo Big Special proves with their second album “National Average” that success doesn’t have to weaken; on the contrary, it has only sharpened their perspective. Last May 2024, Joe Hicklin and Callum Moloney were still performing for a handful of people in the small hall of the Effenaar in Eindhoven. Now, with their second album “National Average”, they reflect on a journey that has taken them from that intimate setting to the O2 Forum Kentish Town. It is precisely that transformation – from obscurity to recognition, from financial worries to ‘got out guilt’ – that forms the core of this fascinating sequel to their acclaimed debut “Postindustrial Hometown Blues”.
Where their 2024 debut album felt mostly raw and unrestrained, “National Average” shows a band that has learned to better control their emotional registers. The emotional shifts are more refined than on the debut, and that is immediately audible. The album opens with the same intensity we know from Big Special, but there is now more strategic build-up in the songs. Joe Hicklin remains the magnetic frontman who screams his poetry as if his life depends on it, but his voice has gained new nuances. The harsh Midlands accent that was so effective on the debut is now alternated with moments of vulnerability that cut deeper than before. The band jammed and jammed until everything came together so quickly and easily – that spontaneity is still palpable, but is now supported by more thoughtful arrangements.
The album concept is as clever as it is painfully recognisable. “The first half of the album is about ambition, you can hear the confidence in it, even a bit of cunning,” Hicklin explains. “The second half is about reflecting on what has happened, how everything has changed. You have to be honest about the darkness.” That division works brilliantly. The opening tracks bubble with confidence and ambition, with the bass lines pounding like bombardments and the hooks digging deep into your memory. Halfway through, the tone shifts to something more introspective, where guilt about success and existential questions about identity and authenticity take over. It is ‘an honest representation of their personal lives’ – exactly what Nina Simone meant when she said that an artist must reflect the time in which he lives.
Moloney’s drum parts remain the foundation of Big Special’s sound, but he has expanded his palette. Where the debut often leaned on the powerful one-two punch of drums and bass, you now hear more texture and dynamics. The production gives each component room to breathe, without losing the raw energy that makes their live performances so memorable.
Bass lines that pound like a blitz, hooks that penetrate deeply and beats that find funk in the feeling of frustration – that description perfectly captures their sound. But where “Postindustrial Hometown Blues” sometimes threatened to drown in its intensity, “National Average” knows when to ease off the gas.
Hicklin remains a master at packaging universal themes in hyper-specific, personal experiences. “These may be things that happened to us, but it’s shit that everyone will recognize,” and that is precisely his strength. The black humour that characterises his work is still prominently present, but now feels less defensive and more like a conscious artistic choice. The songs deal with the paradox of success in a capitalist society: you want to get out, but then you feel guilty that you’re gone. It’s a theme that is particularly relevant in 2025, when social mobility becomes increasingly difficult but the guilt surrounding ‘leaving’ continues to exist.
Although “National Average” is generally a strong album, there are moments when the band takes on too much. Several tracks in the middle section feel somewhat overloaded with conceptual baggage, which somewhat undermines the direct emotional impact. Additionally, the album lacks a song of the caliber of “Shithouse”, which on the previous album was the perfect synthesis of anger, humor and catharsis that made the album so unforgettable.
“National Average” confirms Big Special as one of the most important voices in contemporary British music. They have proven that their debut success was not a fluke, but the result of a nuanced view of the human condition in post-industrial England. The album feels simultaneously personal and universal, local and timeless.
These stories are theirs, but the lessons speak to us all. That is Big Special’s greatest strength: they make music that comes from a specific place and time, but speaks to everyone who has ever struggled with the question of who they are and where they belong. “National Average” is not a revolution, but an intelligent evolution – and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Big Special proves that, together with bands like Sleaford Mods and Dry Cleaning, they now form the new top of the new British wave. (8/10) (SO Recordings)
