A long time ago, I dropped $2 on this because a friend raved about it as a forgotten masterpiece of mid-80's college pop. Close Lobsters were from Scotland and affiliated with that "C-86" scene which was a bit before my time but I liked anyway - some day far into the future we'll get to that seminal compilation, but for now there's just a few odd LPs to represent it on these shelves. Bold, brash 80's drum production, clean channel guitarjangle and some (but not too many keyboards) are the foundation; on top you get sweetly sung melodies, occasionally moody and prone to 4/4 confidence. The liner notes, instead of printing lyrics, print poetic riffs on each track which I quite like! I always remembered this being good for the opening cut, 'Just Too Bloody Stupid', but 'I Kiss the Flower in Bloom' jumps out at me now. File under the Field Mice; there's not a whole lot I can say about this except I still enjoy this for as rarely as I listen to it. It's breezy and loose. The bile comes in the vocal delivery on the title track, but the guitars are all still flowery, and the echoey drums situate it all in a very familiar arena. It's only the 8-minute closing track, 'Mother of God', where Close Lobsters stretch out and get more fiery. This is a monotonous exercise in riff-rock, with a huge layered guitar sound that burns out into the night Of course, it sounds a little bit like Big Country. These guys made another album which I've never heard, but my eyes are open for it in the $2 bins of the world.
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27 March 2011
Close Lobsters - 'Foxheads Stalk This Land' (Enigma)
A long time ago, I dropped $2 on this because a friend raved about it as a forgotten masterpiece of mid-80's college pop. Close Lobsters were from Scotland and affiliated with that "C-86" scene which was a bit before my time but I liked anyway - some day far into the future we'll get to that seminal compilation, but for now there's just a few odd LPs to represent it on these shelves. Bold, brash 80's drum production, clean channel guitarjangle and some (but not too many keyboards) are the foundation; on top you get sweetly sung melodies, occasionally moody and prone to 4/4 confidence. The liner notes, instead of printing lyrics, print poetic riffs on each track which I quite like! I always remembered this being good for the opening cut, 'Just Too Bloody Stupid', but 'I Kiss the Flower in Bloom' jumps out at me now. File under the Field Mice; there's not a whole lot I can say about this except I still enjoy this for as rarely as I listen to it. It's breezy and loose. The bile comes in the vocal delivery on the title track, but the guitars are all still flowery, and the echoey drums situate it all in a very familiar arena. It's only the 8-minute closing track, 'Mother of God', where Close Lobsters stretch out and get more fiery. This is a monotonous exercise in riff-rock, with a huge layered guitar sound that burns out into the night Of course, it sounds a little bit like Big Country. These guys made another album which I've never heard, but my eyes are open for it in the $2 bins of the world.
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