Protomartyr's latest album, Formal Growth In The Desert (★★★★), got me on third listen. Initially, this was the same good, worthy post-punk they have been churning out for a decade. And then that all-important third listen happened, and "Make Way" stunned me. All of a sudden, I saw the clarity and the subtlety I had been missing previously. The sound is monumental, and the emotional cracks are starting to appear. There is some strong melodic substance here, and they might just move you to tears towards the end of the epic closer "Rain Garden".
Noel Gallagher has never moved me to tears, despite the sincerity (which you cannot really take away from him). His other band's new album Council Skies (★★★½) features his strongest set of songs in years, and while the anthemic "Easy Now" clearly towers above the rest, there aren't any major embarrassments either (despite the title "Love Is A Rich Man" and the fact that he ripped off the horn section of "Got To Get Your Into My Life" on the last song). But coming back to "Easy Now" for a second - wouldn't even the most cynical of us want to hear it sung by his brother?..
Another album I liked rather than loved this month was Foo Fighters' But Here We Are (★★★½). I dread to say that this was the first time I actually liked a Foo Fighters album, but I am close to it. Could be the death of the drummer Taylor Hawkins, could be Dave Grohl realising he had to redeem himself for decades of terrible music, but this is alternative rock with good songwriting. "Under You" is power pop worthy of Cheap Trick, and "The Teacher" is ten minutes of guts and attitude with not a second wasted. They do get generic in quite a few places, but nobody had any right to expect such a good album from Foo Fighters in 2023.
As a short breather, I should mention that the modern classical album from Rob Grant is a very lovely affair. Lost At Sea (★★★) has a little orchestration, a little Lana del Rey (Rob's daughter, incidentally), a little ambience, and a lot of ethereal notes on the piano. Highly recommended as background music for writing as well as for some modestly transcendental listening experience.
If there is anything that unites Baxter Dury and Martin Amis (of whom I am thinking a lot these days), it is that they are those rare examples of artists whose oeuvre has transcended the work of their celebrated fathers. Baxter's new album, I Thought I Was Better Than You (★★★★), is a slight letdown in a career full of highlights, but it is still an accomplished LP bristling with spoken word charisma and lyrical and musical wit. I Thought I Was Better Than You is his most autobiographical work to date (not counting his brilliant memoir Chaise-Longue). It is typically short, merely 27 minutes in all, and while I do have some small issues (for instance, why does he need that cheap autotune in "Celebrate Me" and in a couple of other songs? and also, why does he have to sabotage the beautiful melody in "Sincere"?), the classics are plentiful: "Aylesbury Boy", "Crowded Rooms", "Glows", others. A great album, just a slighter one.
Another great short album which I loved this month was RVG's Brain Worms (★★★★). A little Ezra Furman, a little New Zealand jangle pop, but mostly tastefully ferocious indie rock with an attitude and great tunes. Clearly there are lots of great songs (and ideas) on Christine and the Queens' new album Paranoïa, Angels, True Love (★★★½). A triple album, actually, which makes for a sprawling, messy art pop LP that is frustrating, brilliant and gloriously ambitious. Some of it falls flat ("Shine", "I Feel Like An Angel"), some of it is triumphant ("Track 10", second part of "Lick The Light Out") - but such is the nature of most triple albums. Pachelbel, Madonna, French singing, self-indulgence, style... It's all in here.
Another breather worth mentioning is Rufus Wainwright's Folkocracy (★★★), which is Rufus and friends singing some of his favourite folk songs. It is all good and quite tasteful, of course, even if none of it is really an essential listen. Having said that, I will never tire of listening to "Wild Mountain Thyme" (nothing, though, will ever be as good as this version).
Whereas Squid used to induce a terrible headache, these days I just find them a little overrated. Their second LP, O Monolith (★★★½), is an awfully exciting album that is all over the place stylistically and texturally, but that offers a number of brilliant ideas in each of the eight songs. A jazz trumpet here and a fingerpicking pastoral delight there and then a monstrous post-punk groove here and some Kid A-styled ambience there, etc. Complexity and catharsis abound - even if this is still not especially satisfying melodically.
While I find the idea of rating Sigur Rós completely nonsensical, ÁTTA (★★★½) is, of course, utterly blissful. Vaguely euphoric, self-consciously gorgeous soundscapes that could completely pass you by on one listen but then seem like an epiphany on another. If you want your soundscapes less euphoric and a great deal more doom-laden, then Michael Gira is not done yet (nor, according to his latest interviews, is he planning to be any time soon). The Beggar (★★★★) is colossal and exhausting. Also, it is distinguished from his recent trilogy by acoustic strumming and a softer Angels of Light edge to it. I do appreciate the gruesome and diverse 44-minute "The Beggar Lover (Three)", but it is the beautiful transcendence of "No More Of This" that ultimately wins me over.
Jim Bob is continuing to release good music, and Thanks for Reaching Out (★★★★) is a fine addition to his recent resurgence. It is quite simple, really: if you like Jim Bob, you will like this album. Acerbic lyrical wit, sharp melodicism and a terrific sax solo in "goesaroundcomesaround". You won't find a much better song this year than the two-minute pop confection titled (obviously) "This Is End Times". Just a talented songwriter doing his thing. Excellent little album that the world won't care about.
Finally, Lloyd Cole's On Pain (★★★½) is a record in which I have found lots of comfort this month. I didn't have any high expectations for the album, having never been too much of a Commotions fan in the first place, but On Pain worked its way into me like the best medicine. Hardly a classic, but this is synth-pop tinged singer-songwriter music with depth, style and a care for melody.
Songs of the Month:
Swans - "No More Of This"
Baxter Dury - "Crowded Rooms"
Grian Chatten - "Last Time Every Time Forever"
PJ Harvey - "I Inside The Old I Dying"
Lucinda Williams - "Jukebox"
Jim Bob - "goesaroundcomesaround"
Protomartyr - "Make Way"
RVG - "Midnight Sun"
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - "Easy Now" (imagine this sung by Liam)
Albert Hammond Jr. - "Caught By Night" (imagine this sung by Julian)
