Review:

on 2011-02-25 CharlesMartel Said:

For a band with a really silly name, this now defunct Glasgow quintet sure knew how to give us some really delightful jangle pop. But I guess with the name the band chose for themselves, there is no likelihood that you could confuse them with anyone else. This album is a compendium of their first two (indeed their only two) album releases dating from the late eighties.

As befits such a compendium, it is probably best to look at it as two separate albums and review them separately. The CD opens with the ten tracks from their later release, "Headache Rhetoric", arguably the weaker of the two releases, though you wouldn't credit it on listening to the beautiful opener, "Lovely Little Swan". The thing which immediately strikes you is that this is some really good melodic guitar-pop. Some of the songs are slightly heavier, if that is the right word, such as "Nature Thing", at least to start with. But what you have here is some damn fine jangle pop which devotees of the genre should really take some enjoyment from.

Overall the tracks from the second album are perhaps the weaker of the bunch, lacking perhaps the originality and flair of the earlier release. The chord changes and progressions are not as noticeable and the vocals are less diverse, frequently descending into a sort of monotone. But even so, there is plenty here to make you sit up and listen. And listen you should. This album is so reminiscent of everything good that was coming out of the UK at the end of the eighties, it is hard to take any meaningful objection to it. It is the guitar work, restrained yet vibrant, which makes this album. "Got Apprehension" perhaps typifies this, especially with that wonderful little guitar solo at the end, while the final track of this second release, "Knee-Trembler", is perhaps one of the more recognisable tracks on "Headache Rhetoric" and has one of the more catchy combinations of lyric and music on the whole album.

However, it is with the second half of this CD, the ten tracks comprising the 1987 release "Foxheads Stalk This Land" that the album really takes off. For a start it has the better melodies, the clearer sound and is the closer to the sort of pure jangle pop which draws me back to this type of music time and time again. "Just Too Bloody Stupid" is a fine track to open an album with. This is just the start. "Sewer Pipe Dream" has some glorious guitar work and wonderful lyrics, while other tracks such as "Pimps" and "Foxheads" should not be overlooked either.

More great guitar work can be found on "Pathetique" which cracks along at a pace faster than the other tracks on the album, though the reverb and echo on the vocals is perhaps a little too heavy on this one, and on "A Prophecy". However, it is left until the final track for the band to display what they were really capable of. At close on eight minutes long, "Mother of God" stands out for the departure from the pure jangle pop of the rest of the album. Its heavy reverb and distortion on the guitars almost seems to presage the coming of shoegaze. While it may seem out of place, it does go to show what the band were capable of when they broke free and really let loose.

In short, what you have here is a gloriuous little piece of reminiscence. In spite of the fact that the two albums have been re-released in this current form, the Close Lobsters are not likely to gain many more fans as a result. The music is of an era which is not 'modern' enough for the pseuds of today while the lyrics, like the band's name, are at times, seemingly intentionally obscure. Yet for those of us who love a bit of jangly melody in our music, this is an album whose re-release should be welcomed.
Rating: 8/10