Third solo release from Graham Coxon, again on the Transcopic label. Packaged in the familiar card board sleeve, with a scrawled drawing of what looks like a person holding a pint of lager and
a shot of something. There is also a picture of a woman in a boat - it is unclear what relevance these have to the music
contained within. Perhaps none.
Track listing :
The style of this album is immediately familiar to anyone who has heard The Sky Is Too High, and to a lesser extent The Golden D. I am not sure whether
this is his weakest album, or his strongest. It seems to combine elements of both albums - whereas TSITH was downbeat (and in some places downright depressing),
TGD was immediately punky and exciting. Graham definitely seems more confident in his singing capacity, and the songs have more flesh on them (though perhaps not as much soul).
This album is not for everyone - like many other solo albums I own, it sounds like it was knocked together on a four track in his bedroom (no doubt it initially was !).
Whether you'll enjoy this album obviously depends on what you class as good music. If you want something that makes you jump up and bang your head/run around/play air guitar/jump up and down on the spot,
I'm afraid you won't find that here. That's not to say it isn't a good album, it just requires a lot of patience.
Maybe this is a problem with solo albums in general, in that a song writer doesn't have three or four other band members around them giving them
feedback on what sounds good and what doesn't, and some bits that don't work will find their way onto the album. There's no doubt the man can write a tune, however - indeed most of this album sounds like
it could have been the stuff that was rejected from the final running of Blur's 13. If you want a very rough idea of what Graham's solo stuff sounds like, listen to either 13 by Blur or the song
You And Whose Army ? on Amnesiac by Radiohead. I heard an interview with him on Xfm, and he said that while he was writing the album he had an obsession with crows, hence the title.