Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Jarvis Cocker's Further Complications
As many of you know I may be the worlds biggest Jarvis Cocker fan, I have waited excitedly for his new album to be released. It was released May 19th and I'm sorry to say I am very disappointed. This is potentially heart breaking for me, I might be forced to sell my tickets for The Fillmore on July 28th, I can't take 90 minutes live of this music.
You can listen to some of it here at jarviscocker.net and here's a video for Angela
What's the problem you may ask ??? It's not Jarvis !! I fully respect a guy for doing whatever he wants but this, to me, is the sound of a guy going out of his way NOT to sound like himself. All I can hope for is that this is the last hurrah before a return to Pulp. Jarvis was a fantastic album but this is not. There are only 2 songs I think I would listen to again. Maybe it'll grow on me but I'm not sure it will get a chance.
Track by Track breakdown of my heartbreak.
Further Complications
Lyrically some classic Jarvis but musically a lot of noise.
Angela
One of the better tracks. Quite catchy though lyrically thin.
Pilchard
Mercifully short at 3 minutes, it's basically an instrumental with some chanting over it, it simply doesn't change and just keeps repeating the same thing. - urgh !!
Leftovers
6 Minutes again. These songs are simply too long for the quality. One of the better songs, speak, sing vocals, simple music. Lyrically Jarvis tries to be too clever with his lyrics, the classics have all been simple ideas expressed well. Another song that really doesn't go anywhere.
I Never Said I Was Deep
Some classic Jarvis here, fantastic lyrics, the semi spoken, semi sung vocal style. Perhaps it's a bit "by the numbers" but on a search for things to like on this album it does well. "My lack of knowledge is vast" is a great line. One of the best here but not even in the top 10 on the Jarvis album.
Homewrecker!
Sorry but for me this is just noise, loud, obnoxious if you make it past the first minute there is some singing but it's not worth the wait. It's a great idea for a song but not well executed
Hold Still
Gives early hints of being a classic Jarvis tune, but fades quality wise, still one of the better songs, but kind of weak lyrics again.
Fuckingsong
Driven by a simple, loud guitar riff it speaks back to the "This is Hardcore" era Pulp but again there is really no hook and nothing to latch onto.
Caucasian Blues
Sorry to say it but this one is awful, lazy songwriting, lyrically uninteresting
Slush
a very unnecessary 6:30 long. One of the better songs but too long. Musically still driven by noise but some good lyrics and singing is to be found here.
You're In My Eyes (Discosong)
A weird one, 8 minutes long, disco based, harks back to early Pulp experiments. While I quite like it, it's not a song I can imagine listening to.
Labels: album, cocker, complications, further, jarvis, pulp, review
