| Maybe if I knew more about contemporary composition I wouldn'tthink Spring Heel Jack was so special. Maybe if I knew more abouttechno flavors of the month I wouldn't either. But maybe I knowenough about these areas of musical endeavor to recognize a bandthat's good at both simultaneously--or a band that's better at eachbecause it's better at both. Ashley Wales is the raving electro-wizwho attends every new-music premiere in the U.K., John Coxon thepop pro who makes sure things never get too forbidding. Novocalists, sampled or otherwise, and despite an early fondness forstring sounds, not much fluff. Just rockish synth noises oversuperfast drumbeats, augmented by a musical pallette that rangesfrom rumbling subbass to electronic carillon and set into longstructures that sure sound like compositions to me. I'm not bettingthe college fund, but I doubt there's classical or techno much likeit. The U.S debut was68 Million Shades . . .;Busy CuriousThirsty (Island) is somewhat less dancy and every bit as good. Youknow?
"My mother's husband is a pretty good guy/They were lovers sincebefore my daddy died," begins one ditty on Lonesome Bob'sThingsFall Apart (Checkered Past),which ends up being about compromnise, not revenge. A NewJersey native buried hip deep in the Nashville underground, hemines country music for its darkest truths and isn't afraid to putthem across with words like "overidealized." Also, he rocks.
Finley Quaye is half Scottish, half Ghanaian, so naturally he singsreggae. It's 1997, so naturally hisMaverick a Strike (550 Music)skanks despite its light pop feel. True star or U.K. hype, themusic is all there.Playboy, Oct. 1997
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