Once, back when I wrote for Oxford Music Magazine, I had a brief e-mail exchange with the editor on the subject of which albums I wanted to review next. He suggested doing Grizzly Bear. Grizzly Bear? I said. Not them. Not those wimpy folk revivalists with their dull beards. At which point he of course told me that they were his favourite band. These days, I am happy to report that Daniel Rossen's album You Belong There (★★★½) was haunting and intriguing and had the sort of melodic substance I used to miss in Grizzly Bear's music. This was in April.
Now it is May, and the folk album of the month has to be Kevin Morby's tuneful This Is A Photograph (★★★½). The LP may falter a little towards the end but it has so much timeless charm in the title song and especially in "Bittersweet, TN" that I do not really mind a misstep or two. Another good singer-songwriter album came from Hold Steady's Craig Finn whose tastefully orchestrated A Legacy Of Rentals (★★★½) is reliably excellent. Big choruses, spoken-word verses, enormous hooks. Nothing new, really. He always does the same thing - but he does it well.
The big sound of Finn's latest, though, cannot hope to compete with that of Arcade Fire's WE (★★★½). An album of two halves, with side A focusing on their latest dance and electronic exploits and side B offering the fans the sort of nostalgia that they crave. Needless to say, side B wins. Overall, though, let's just accept that these days Arcade Fire are more pretentious than inspired, and move on. Is Liam Gallagher pretentious? There has never been a clear-cut answer to this question. One thing is for sure: the guy will never change. C'mon You Know (★★★) is fucking good. I wish it were fucking great, though.
Yet another shot of nostalgia came by way of Belle & Sebastian's A Bit Of Previous (★★★½). The album title says everything you need to know. Their first full-length album after the underrated Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance is unadventurous, safe and lyrically trite. The charm, however, is still there. That and Stuart Murdoch's knack for a disarming melody. The infectious "Talk To Me, Talk To Me" and the harmonica-driven "Unnecessary Drama" are late-period classics. Soft Cell's comeback Happiness Not Included (★★★) I found less successful. The style was there, the grandeur of Marc Almond's voice was intact, but some of the songwriting lacked depth. The cabaret-infused drama of "I'm Not A Friend Of God", however, was almost enough to cover the losses.
Of the more contemporary bands trying to recreate the moods of the past, The Monophonics are among the best. Their take on the psychedelic soul of the 60s is suffused with taste (just look at that album cover) and great songs. Sage Motel (★★★½) may not be as strong as 2020's It's Only Us, but that is nothing to be ashamed of. There is shame, however, in me not picking The Wave Pictures' When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings (★★★★) as my album of the month. Double album split into four sections representing four seasons of the year. The highlights are numerous ("French Cricket" for the toe-tapping charms, "I'd Rather Be Doing Something Else" for the tune, "Winter Baby" for the atmosphere) and the voice of David Tattersall is just irresistible. What a band.
The double album by Wilco is less interesting but it is still their strongest material since A Ghost Is Born. Cruel Country (★★★½) is, indeed, country - with just the right amount of edge. There is no reason why it had to be 21 songs, of course, but Jeff Tweedy can still pull an insidious vocal melody out of his well worn-out bag of tricks ("Hints" is case in point). Thom Yorke, too, came up with a pleasant surprise. For what it is worth, The Smile's A Light For Attracting Attention (★★★½) is the best Radiohead-related album in recent memory. Less wankery, more songs. "You Will Never Work In Television Again" is their most direct offering since, what, Pablo Honey?
