Love Travels At Illegal Speeds - Graham Coxon Album Review

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Album Review

The single Standing On My Own Again has entered the charts at 20(w/c 6 March). It's a definite nod to the brief reign of Punk rock in the mid-70s. In reality it barely lasted 18 months. Punk was hardly the most creative of genres. Sex Pistols' Steve Jones once said, "We're not into music, we're into chaos." This confirms it was more angst-ridden, anti-establishment and a backlash to the supposed self-indulgence of Prog-Rock -Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Yes et al. Amazingly it still inspires some of today's bands like Green Day and host of others. Strange that a talent like Coxon should elect to use it as an inspiration for the majority of this album. Once the co-creative force with Damon Albarn behind the success of Blur, Coxon seems trapped almost in the past, whereas Albarn, under the guise of Gorillaz has move onwards and upwards producing one of the best albums of the 21st century, Demon Days.

Power riffs, wiry solos and a fair bit of hollering make it a cluttered affair, best example being You Always Let Me Down and I Don't Want. Naff immature lyrics take a strong position, track 2,

I can't look at your skin coz it's turning me in..

and ,

I don't wanna go out
I don't wanna stay in
I'll sit inside my box and vandalise my dirty mind

...

hardly point to a man who's turning 37 on March 12. It's not all chaos, thankfully there are 'original' welcomed breaks , in the form of the ever rambling Just A State Of Mind, though the dire singing kills it off. You And I could easily be a Ray Davies song, a happy go lucky hipster with far too much, "La la la la" for my liking. Gentle acoustic lead, Flights To The Sea show his more sophisticated song construction, with nice touches here and there, using, yes unbelievably, a flute. Only drawback is the lack of lyrics: it has the least on the entire album. Track 11, What's He Got? , a classy blues - driven harmonica lead ditty would make a great single.

As albums go, it's an ineffective and disjointed effort. He's a long way off catching Damon.

Elly Roberts