I got this just after it came out, at the beginning of 2003. It was definitely a Mixing It recommendation. I felt it was a bit tepid at first, but I'm warming to it the more I listen to it — especially You Were Wrong.
I can hear this music in a 'glass is half full' or 'glass is half empty' way. In the former case, it sounds like songs that have been given an edge by their off-kilter setting and some occasional shards of chaos — like Pere Ubu or Tom Waits. In the latter, the songs are just below par, without hooks, and with a little decoration that tries, but fails, to lift them out of the ordinary.
The cover reminds me somehow of that Blind Faith album you used to have (though I think that cover is banned now), and I wondered if that was some kind of joke about Loose Fur being a supergroup. I was attracted, I think, more by the involvement of Jim O'Rourke, who turns up all over the place and seems to be incredibly prolific, than by the blokes from Wilko. I have nothing against the latter, but I've yet to be bitten by the Wilko bug.
MusicBrainz entry for this album |
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