Latest releases reviewed.
SUPERGRASS
Road to Rouen
Parlophone
****
They were young and they certainly ran green, but at first listen it seems the exuberant Supergrass of old have either been served with an Asbo or replaced by their dads. Fear not, though; Road to Rouen may display a maturity previously only hinted at on songs such as Run and Moving, but it's actually their finest, most accomplished album to date. From the multi-layered, multi-instrumental opener, Tales of Endurance, Supergrass confidently meander through styles ranging from piano-led introspection (the single, St Petersburg, reviewed below right), through funk (Road to Rouen) and prog-rock (Roxy) to Sgt Pepper-balladry (Sad Girl) without compromising identity or quality. Plus, as an amusing café-Cossack interlude, Coffee in the Pot, and the album's witty title (it was recorded in Normandy) prove, they do still have a bit of growing up to do. Thank God.
www.supergrass.com Johnnie Craig
ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS
Antony and the Johnsons
Secretly Canadian
****
Having converted even the most hardened of non-believers at his Dublin show last month, Antony and the Johnsons (and their record company) hope to quell the doubts of more people with the re-release of this, his debut album. Originally released in 1998 (to a deafening silence, on this side of the Atlantic at very least), this chamber pop/cabaret music is strange, gorgeous, captivating and evocative. The web in which the listener is securely trapped is Antony's voice: pained, full of the woes of the world, never pretentious, open to interpretation. His words are equal to the task, by turns as cryptic as a secret code and as revealing as innocence. Singular brilliance, and no mistake. www.antonyandthejohnsons.com - Tony Clayton-Lea
CURSIVE
The Difference Between Houses and Homes
Saddle Creek
**
The biggest act on Saddle Creek's roster after Bright Eyes, these Nebraskan buds of Conor Oberst spent the 1990s merging finicky post-rock figures with a jaw-clenching variety of emo. The results, such as Semantics of Song and The Rhyme Scheme, might sound as mortifyingly self-conscious as their titles, yet someone thought them tolerable enough to warrant this resurrection of unreleased songs and deleted 7" singles. Big mistake. Cursive's juvenilia makes for a morose, drunken-sounding outburst of Pavement-approved lo-fi, Joey Santiago's needling guitar breaks, and lyrics that erupt from mumbling aloofness to something as subtle and melodious as a bawling wrestling commentator. Although capably bookended by two arresting tracks, the album's remaining melodrama and wearying mood swings recall nothing so much as a tiresome row with Kevin the Teenager: No, you shut up!
www.saddle-creek.com - Peter Crawley
ROBERT POST
Robert Post
Mercury
***
Don't look now, but there's another Norwegian singer-songwriter on the loose. Whether it's the Northern Lights or something of equal dazzling profundity we'll probably never know. What is certain is that Robert Post whips the living daylights out of his contemporaries; rather than take the observational approaches of the usual boy-meets-girl, love-conquers-all scenarios, Post glances sideways and comes up with the kind of lyric/narrative that wouldn't look out of place stuck between Richard Ford and Graham Greene on your A-Z bookshelves. And they're all wrapped up in tough-luck, pop/rock/acoustic music. It has to be said - this man Post really delivers. www.robert-post.com - Tony Clayton-Lea
FIELD MUSIC
Field Music
Memphis Industries
***
What's on Field Music's Dansette? My guess would be Wire's Pink Flag, side two of Abbey Road, Genesis's mini-epic Supper's Ready and Sparks' Kimono My House. However, the Sunderland trio cite Thelonius Monk, The Left Banke and The Neptunes, so what do I know? The jerky, stop-start pace of their debut might suggest a certain lack of direction, but it quickly becomes clear that these Mackems know exactly where they're going. Andrew Moore and brothers Dave and Peter Brewis are part of the cerebral north-east scene that brought us Futureheads and Maximo Park, and their Beatlesque harmonies, prog-jazz flavours and precisely pitched pop songs (If Only the Moon Were Up, Pieces, Shorter Shorter, It's Not the Only Way to Feel Happy and You Can Decide) betray a goatee-stroking, intellectual approach and a cool, clever-clever charm.
www.field-music.co.uk - Kevin Courtney
THE PROCLAIMERS
Restless Soul
Persevere Records
**
When Craig and Charlie Reid requested that letter from America back in 1987, we didn't think they'd be still getting bags of fanmail 18 years later. The bespectacled twins from Aughtermuchty are still finding a big audience for their old-fashioned Caledonian rockabilly soul; they've stormed Glastonbury, T in the Park and the Galway Arts Festival this summer as part of a world tour, and wedding receptions across the globe still rock to the thumping beat of 500 Miles. Here's their sixth album, an exuberant selection of skifflecore pop anthems, including When Love Struck You Down, Turning Away, Bound for Your Love and What I Saw in You. The sparkling vocal chemistry is still there, like the Everly Brothers atop Ben Nevis, and the songcraft, though still terminally timewarped, has matured like fine highland scotch. www.proclaimers.co.uk - Kevin Courtney
