rituals REVIEW j v ALBUMS [—
THE WENDYS Division, ratherthan Happy Mondays and Northside, and in itseli this is no
Gobbledygook (Factory) Perhaps we bad thing. The problem is that all too
expect too much irom The Wendys. oiten they iall into the trap oi wearing Like Spirea x with 4A0, their signing to their iniluences too proudly, without
one oi the country’s most consistently any attempt to add anything to the
interesting labels has done much lor sound themselves. A iew tracks ailing image oi Scottish music. (particularly ‘ilali Blind’ and ‘Gobbledygook’ isn’t even what you’d ‘Suckling’) hear more than a passing call a bad album, it's just that gliding resemblance to Close Lobsters. Again, "0mm 8"" 90mm“ along on well-worn musical currents no bad thing, it’s just that another 0-86 t I "Wm Md 00"99'0'83 when you could be soaring sunwards is l is the last thing we need. Still, it is i bound to disappoint. ’ early days, and The Wendys may yet I Trimdstricd to dis cl the Like their live shows, this album realise the potential suggested by l idea may Aus,,a“al;as reveals their iniluences as bands like i songs like the title track. (James I l packed with macho The Bunnymen, Magazine and even Joy I Haliburton) The wand” f beer—swillers with a wide ; vocabularyofaffectionate I terms forsheep.llunters And Collectors do their “ a y . ' . ‘ b "I k H b" h ' t i , best to redress the . ' *v - 1’ . 868088 ey l a‘ c '0" 0 S ta 3 balance. _This 16-track . ‘ , P ' nan . tor her husband. That’s the most p : compilamn exudes more 1 v ’ .. Wm! I.“ H I Elildzaggln (4th & Broadway) With the ememe this gets, but "WA are
controversy surrounding them already, NWA are in a prime position to make some heavy commentary, and tor the lull lirst hall oi this, that’s what they seem to be doing - pounding home the stereotype oi the nigga gangster with the huge gun and the huge dick, setting up a babble oi voices deiending their stance against an opposing babble oi critics (‘How can you call yourseli a
testosterone than Tom Jones‘ posing pouch. Even the would-be sensitive tracks (‘Throw Your Arms Around Me'. I ‘January Rain') come on all butch and intense (read overblown). It‘s a shame because Hunters And Collectors have a nice line in melodic guitar-driven rock-pop that would be distinctly radio-friendly were it not for the leadcn lyrics. and over-the-top delivery. There‘s little here to recall the excitement ot'their early
alternately clutching their cocks out at primal castration tear and demanding their rights to shove them down the threats at any woman they damn well please. Side two drags on iorever.
i can take any amount oi vile iilth when there’s a point to it- and often it's even more iun when there isn’t- but {innit ilromla group who would stoop to , s eve o oiience to line their alread "'99" and be 9'0"" 0' “7 )’ '"semng plush pockets. The excuse that this is a" 9'9an 0' (amen ham4is'9d) “may genuine reilection oi lite and attitudes
...lt’s dynamic stuii. Then, like it’sa . . contractual obligation, discussion is Lnrg‘t’tgsmtkoineostagtfisrhzwt 3::
dropped and it’s down to dissing the bitches. And that’s when this record gangsm:mygfggrfesggtttfii5:” E
days when their fluid l turns into a pile oi clotted shit. Obvious. - line-up and looser. ‘The wor'd’s mos: dangerous group” don’t percusswc sound tlwn en route to Mark: and Spencers they boast. Because, and get this, °
promised something new. (Tom Lappin)
_ DEACON BLUE
Fellow Hoodlums (Columbia) For such a successiul group, Deacon Blue are extraordinarily erratic, in a way that makes it impossible to write them all completely. For every cascade oi slush like ‘Dlgnlty' on the ‘liaintown’ LP, there was a mysteriously spine-tingling ‘Loaded’ or a more than passable white soul pastiche like ‘When Will You’.
‘Fellow Hoodlums’ too veers irom the
Ptolemle smooth and classy into experiments I Prolessor x: Years OlThe they soon might rather torget, but its 9v 0" "W mama" 3'“ diversity has grown not out oi contusion L4.” 5 BMW”) What over their identity, but an increasing 1nd of a mail is this “dainty 0' n.
mecmr X‘ H“ 5 gm It’s their loosest, most relaxed eiiort
consciousness to raise. but he comes over as less on to date, capturing at last some oi the
A
preachc,‘ more on, silliness they can slip into live, which strange amalgam of game is relreshing alterthe stodge oi the show host and eccentric Bacharach and David recordings.
but harmless mystic poet- Sometlmes they sound like the kind He’s got a 800d line In oi souped-up iolk band that you could
baffling iconography‘ bl" imagine playing in some big Tramwa . ' ' o . y 2:323:13ihccflfigdggjgf production on Scots social and line, which tends to Show industrial history, but then they get up weak and silly couplets humbly "em" on ‘mosmo "me, um.
that more skilled rappers Steely Dan-style keyboards, Sly Stone
might have slipped past sample and overworked wah-wah, and . us._Though X thanks a it doesn’t work. Several times, one legionpf Black Rights wonders how broad a range they can a Olgan'sal'ons 0" "‘9 carry oil convincingly. But redeeming
sleeve. his is not a heavy
. ieatures abound. P bi E - d.Th . m‘goécisl’;gg:vt;:“" c And sexy? Well,theytry.(Alastalr
preachingsugar-coatcd_ Mabbott) (AlastairMabbott)
. l 36 The List 31 May— 13June 1991