SWERVEDRIVER - EJECTOR SEAT RESERVATION - 8/10
The title Mezcal Head may have been a harbinger of Swervedriver's fascination with Americana, not surprising considering the band's grungier style compared to its shoegaze brethren and their fascination with the masculine aesthetic of the automobile, epitomized in "Son of Mustang Ford". Ejector Seat Reservation follows up on that aesthetic by realizing it in a much more definite way. Much like Raise, it eases into the momentum that it builds. "Single Finger Salute" seems to echo the bull on the cover of the preceding album, with trumpets resounding like the prelude to a bullfight, and "Bring Me the Head of the Fortune Teller" is replete in a mystical, barren aesthetic. This album hops back and forth between confident sound that is vintage Swervedriver and a more subtle atmospheric sound, as one can notice in comparing "The Other Jesus" to "Son of Jaguar E" and "Bubbling Up" to "Ejector Seat Reservation". When they work, Ejector Seat Reservation's more anthemic moments, as in "The Other Jesus," "Last Day on Earth," and "The Birds" are some of the band's most compelling works. The more impressionistic "Son of Jaguar E" showcases a subtle descriptiveness that is often missing from Swervedriver in comparison to their shoegaze contemporaries, but the execution is perfect. Elsewhere, however, this album has some of the band's worst lyrics. "I Am Superman" feels pointless, and "How Does It Feel to Look Like Candy?", generally a terrific song, is a bit lacking lyrically. Nonetheless, while this album is somewhat less consistent than it's predecessors, it also has some great moments that are not to be missed. Highlights include "The Other Jesus", "Son of Jaguar E", and "The Birds".
ELASTICA - ELASTICA - 8.5/10
When looking back on the Britpop era, it's easy to forget about Elastica, the classic album that was eventually overshadowed by the likes of Dog Man Star, Parklife, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, and Different Class. Yet while these other albums were blatantly tackling complex social issues and popular discontent, Elastica was a bold statement album, a punky predecessor of the feminist indie music that is so successful of late. Elastica is loud, brash, and not afraid to offend, and in a sense feels like more of an inheritor of The Breeders than Blur, whose lead singer Damon Albarn had a lengthy relationship with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann. In a sense, Elastica was the very opposite of a band like Pulp, who sheepishly admitted their perversity and weirdness with a sense of shame that made them seem all the more genuine. Elastica, on the other hand, seemed almost condescending, writing songs like "Stutter" making fun of men's sexual impotence and writing choruses like "Here we go again" in "Car Song" that drip with boredom. Justine was never meant to be a sensitive siren like Slowdive's Rachel Goswell or My Bloody Valentine's Belinda Butcher, who imbued the shoegaze movement with some of its most touching moments. Instead she's tough as nails, almost a caricature, whose voice hides none of her disdain for whatever she's singing about. Fittingly, these songs wiz by as if nobody in this band honestly cares at all what you think about it. Yet, at the same time, Elastica contains enough hooky choruses to feed a small army and have a rhythmic swagger that is unavoidable. Songs even show a hint of sensitivity at times, for example in "Line Up", "Blue", and "Never Here", that, however meager, serves as a tasty morsel in the midst of this proudly apathetic album. The only weakness to this album is that it is sprinkled with songs that are completely forgettable, such as "Indian Song" and "Annie". Likewise, "All-Nighter" and "Stutter" seemingly have the same verses, and many will criticize the album as being a bit derivative, though, if we're being honest, what Britpop album wasn't? Highlights include "Connection", "S.O.F.T.", and "Waking Up".
IDLEWILD - EVERYTHING EVER WRITTEN - 6.5/10
I think we all saw this coming, and yet I still love Idlewild all the same. Roddy's voice is still like a second father, always understanding, always encouraging me to keep positive. Yet here we are with another soft as down Idlewild album, and while Idlewild is probably the only band good enough to make saccharine songs into anthems - "Quiet Crown", "I'm Happy to Be Here Tonight", and "American English" are still some of my favorite songs - they don't quite manage to be especially interesting on this album. Now, it must be noted, this album is still undoubtedly better than Make Another World. Like Make Another World it starts out on an a high note that much of the rest of the album fails to live up to, but unlike Make Another World, there are some other masterworks comparable to Idlewild's best work that crop up throughout this album. This also sounds like a band that actually cares about the songs they're performing, unlike on Make Another World, where the most genuine band on the planet were clearly going through the motions. Nonetheless, the vast majority of this album, even though I must admit that it does grow more interesting with repeated listens, never really becomes interesting, though it must be granted again that there are some new thing on this album that differentiate it from the folky sound of Post Electric Blues. Enough with the bad, however, and on to the good. First of all, this album thunders out of the gate, and while the excitement of "Collect Yourself" never really gets built upon - much the opposite of Hope is Important where the first song was possibly the worst on the album - it is a compelling start. There are also other nice bits in this album, such as the jam out at the end of "Come On Ghost", the majority of "(Use It) If You Can Use It", which is an unnecessarily long 7 minutes long, though it remains one of the more compelling songs on the album. Most of all, it should be noted that "Radium Girl" and "On Another Planet" are phenomenal songs that show just how much potential this album had, and remind us that Idlewild is still Idlewild. Even on Make Another World and Post Electric Blues they managed to come up with "In Competition for the Worst Time" and "Circles and Stars". Nonetheless, for a band that gave us Hope is Important, 100 Broken Windows, The Remote Part, and a whole host of incredible B-sides and even in their least inspiring albums began to show a knack for writing incredible closing songs, an album filled with the likes of "So Many Things to Decide" and "Like a Clown" and capped off with the emotionally flimsy "Utopia" serves as more food for thought than most of the songs themselves do, as a band truly unique in its brilliant lyricism and playful musical arrangements seems to have nearly exhausted themselves, though some brilliant moments remain. All in all, it reminds me of how Proust described his perception of Bergotte, whose work had once been so unquestionably brilliant, now writing novels that were only just above bland in quality. Highlights include "(Use It) If You Can Use It", "On Another Planet", and "Radium Girl"
p.s. Idlewild is still the best
