Latest releases reviewed
OASIS
Don't Believe the Truth
Sony BMG
****
If I told you that this was the best Oasis album in 10 years, would you believe me? It's the truth: the Gallagher brothers have dug deep into their rock 'n' roll hearts and rediscovered something they'd lost around the time of Be Here Now. Gone are the pompous self-satisfaction, the crashing complacency and the lazy songwriting; back are all the things we liked about Oasis in the first place: the cheeky pilfering of classic licks, the no-one-can-touch-us attitude and the straight-ahead, unpretentious approach to rock that made their borrowed riffs sound fresh in the first place. There's little of the lumpen, bloated blues of old in evidence on Lyla (with its blatant lift from The Stones' Street Fighting Man), Guess God Thinks I'm Abel and Keep the Dream Alive, old-fashioned cribs that crackle with fresh pop power. Liam's songwriting has come on in leaps and bounds (he has written three tracks here), while whimsical ditty The Importance of Being Idle is not too embarrassing, and the Lennonesque closing ballad, Let There be Love, is spiced up by the presence of Ringo's son Zak Starkey on drums. It's the rebirth of dadrock. www.oasisinet.com - Kevin Courtney.
DUKE SPECIAL
Adventures in Gramophone
Hag Records
***
Somewhere between the stately curios of the antiques road show and the intriguing clutter of a junk shop, Duke Special's striking debut album is at once quirky and timeless. Wrapping everything within the warm crackle of a gramophone player, the Belfast musician soundtracks his sepia-toned poetic, romantic yearnings with pianos, harmoniums, cheese graters and egg whisks. Such jangly arrangements often sound crammed and idiosyncratic (Badly Drawn Boy, how are ya?) but the Duke's lovelorn intentions get us beyond mere novelty. If Don't Breathe, Love is a Series of Scars and Freewheel are lyrically forlorn, never mind - his sweetened melodies are jauntily unconcerned. Veering between the music hall and the Victorian parlour, gathering steel guitars, Motown beats, ska and waltz rhythms as he goes, Duke Special makes pop music - but keeps it enticingly out of sync with the world. www.dukespecial.com - Peter Crawley
JIMMY WEBB
Twilight of the Renegades
Sanctuary
***
The songwriting genius behind MacArthur Park and Wichita Lineman returns with a suitably rich and complex new album, his first for nine years. Renegades is an hour of epic songs with typically Homeric lyrics and timeless melodies, lovingly constructed with Webb's peerless attention to detail. Delicious piano chords and lush strings loom large, from the philosophical tale of a Class Clown to such gorgeously intricate ballads as Time Flies and No Signs of Age. Webb seamlessly recaptures his old form without feeling the need to take any American Recordings-style risks. Production-wise, therefore, this is smoothly veneered to within an inch of its life, the only semblance of a rough edge coming from Webb's fragile, heartfelt vocals. While Renegades may not attract new or younger fans, connoisseurs of the songwriting craft should investigate; Jimmy Webb is still providing masterclasses. www.jimmywebb.com - Johnnie Craig
WHY?
Sanddollars EP
Anticon/Southern Records
****
Like a bolt from the deep blue, US psych-rock quartet Why? make you realise precisely the reason why the art of music can mean so much. The alter ego for over five years of cLOUDDEAD's Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf, Why? is the kind of powerpop/folk/indie outfit that would be lauded in the same breath as Rilo Kiley, Brendan Benson and Fountains of Wayne if there were any justice. The fact that this commendable side project has languished in the commercial doldrums for most of the Noughties is perhaps more to do with consumer taste than lack of quality. Yet, with the likes of US television shows such as The OC making stars out of the most unlikely bunches of acts, it would seem probable that Why?'s time has finally arrived. Certainly, there can't be too many left-of-centre acts out there with such an acute grasp of pop/rock techniques as Wolf and friends. Weirdly pastoral, profoundly gorgeous music, complete with killer hooks and all that jazz. www.southern.net Tony Clayton-Lea
VARIOUS
Army Of Me (Unicef)
One Little Indian
***
Only Björk could pull this off. She posted a message on her website asking for people to send in a cover version of her song, Army Of Me. Within a week, 600 covers of the song were sent to her, which she eventually whittled down to 20 and put on this record. With not a big or even medium-sized name in sight, the results are very mixed. Pick and choose from the heavy metal, the lush ballad, the flamenco, the electroclash and the accordion versions. To be fair to the contributors, they've all given it a good bash, even if some of them could out-weird Björk herself in the interpretative stakes. As mad novelty records go, it's all good fun - and all the money raised by the album does go directly to Unicef. But you wouldn't be buying this for musical reasons. Good idea though, Björk. Hats off. - Brian Boyd
