The Album Review Club - Week #145 - (page 1923) - Tellin' Stories - The Charlatans

Found this week’s pick fine overall and I suspect it might grow on me if I listen to It a bit more but still it was nonetheless lacking something for me at this point.

I found myself comparing it to an album by another couple that occasionally crosses my mind to nominate at some point, and this pick suffered in comparison in two ways. Firstly, the album in question was written after one of the two nearly died of a rare illness and secondly the singer in the duo has a highly distinctive voice. These two things give the album in question a fragile and slightly pensive sense that pervades and unifies the album. It ruminates on the nature of relationship and love in a way that is lyrically similar to tracks on Lovers Electric but with a perspective that despite being less forceful still feels more ‘real’ than some of the tracks on here. As others have said I don't know how much I "believed" some of what they were saying here. I also think Eden Boucher’s voice on this is ok but nothing special. The, I think, deliberately quirky instrumentation and production choices didn't really work for me either.

I think this duo are actually better the poppier they get, as Fog said there are elements of New Order lite (and others) at times which I think is ok because they’ve not got the substance (ho ho) to do a heavier weight job of that sound.

Quite palatable - 6/10.
 
I liked the first track on this and nothing else. It lacks depth, technique, any sort of sophistication, lyricism, musical intelligence, dynamism or light and shade. To me its a poor example of its genre and the vocals begin to grate after a very few listens. Oh. it has a good beat which seems to justify a high score for some ;-). Did I hear one of those things Rolf Harris used to use at one point?

With all the wonderful music out there .......

I will give it 3 as it didn't annoy me as much as some of the recent albums and didn't feature ray guns.
 
Lovers Electric/Lovers Electric
I thought that it started well and as you would expect a little thrill of excitment with the speed and vibe of it.
A nice voice but I thought that the backing, whilst occasionally interesting almost had the feel of a childs toy guitar/toy xylophone just lacked some real oooomph.
However, as others have said I did get the feel that it could have been more powerful, something more to it, pretty much as anything basic battery operated isnt quite as good as something mains powered.
Pleasant enough and it went along nicely giving those pleasant feelings but the high was perhaps at the start rather than leading to that climax at the end.
It would be a 6 from the Derry jury

And as for the thread suggestion, I would probably err on remaining with the single week as I'm not sure that I would partake of other musical threads as much
 
Like a few others have mentioned I found this weeks offering more palatable than I anticipated. Whilst it’s not a ground breaking album, it’s pleasant enough in its own way, albeit it does seem to run out of steam midway through. Opening track was the highlight for me - nothing unpleasant, I could listen to it again if I had to, but I probably won’t. Solid 6/10 for me.
As an aside, who else has succumbed to a support act that they were rather taken by. For me it was Jessica Lea Mayfield supporting the Black Keys many years ago. I even purchased her album at the gig. Studio sound was a bit disappointing, but with a kick ass band behind her she was awesome on the night.
 
I think the word is 'pleasant '. Or ' unassuming '. Or 'generic'. Nothing really grabbed me, nothing really jumped out and nothing really made me want to listen to it again. I quite liked the vocal for a few songs but then it started to grate a tad on my delicate ears.

As for being swept along by a supporting act, watched a band called Walt Disco supporting OMD the other month. Loved them so much I bought the vinyl. I've listened since and have downgraded my opinion to...quite good.

Oh...score...

4/10
 
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