Sorted! The Best Of Love And Rockets

Love And Rockets

Beggars Banquet, 2003

http://www.loveandrockets.com/

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/26/2013

I'd always wondered what the missing link was between the two British alternative sounds of the ‘80s, the band that joined the gloomy post-punk garage rock of The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, etc. to the sunnier psychedelic Madchester scene that spawned the Stone Roses, Blur and Oasis. Turns out Love And Rockets might be that link.

The bulk of the music falls squarely between those two scenes, with half the songs coming from the band's first two albums, Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven and Express. The band had a bit of a cult following, mainly among college rock audiences, based on these two albums and the follow-up Earth, Sun, Moon, but it wasn't until the 1989 hit "So Alive" that the band broke through to a somewhat larger audience. They quickly lost the plot after that in the ‘90s, opting for an electronica direction and then a generic ‘90s alt-rock sound, but only three of the remaining songs are from that decade.

Sorted! is a distillation of the band's best work, and it is a bracing, dense, and varied listen, offering new layers upon each successive listen. Just as Joy Division lost a singer and reformed with a new sound as New Order, so Bauhaus lost Peter Murphy and reformed as Love And Rockets, leaving behind their gloomy sound (for the most part) for an approach that integrates psychedelic ‘60s pop, a strong Who influence in the guitar work, and a somewhat sunnier outlook that makes the music infectious without ever pandering.

"Kundalini Express" is straight up flowery ‘60s pop filtered through the post-punk lens, all colors and swirls grounded in reality. "Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)" is an excellent combination of driving acoustic guitars, a pulsating bass and skittish, energetic drumming, all behind lyrics drawn from a children's cartoon from the ‘60s. Unlike other self-obsessed singers/lyricists of the alternative movement, though, David J and Daniel Ash use their words more for colorful fills and mood evocation. You are meant to enjoy the songs as a whole, and the musicians – perhaps from their training in Bauhuas – make sure you do.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

The best example of this is "Saudade," an instrumental piece that starts with echoing acoustic guitar arpeggios, then slowly adds a bass and strings to create a sense of – according to the liner notes – "rapturous melancholic longing," according to the Portuguese definition of the word. It's difficult to explain better than that; it's just a song that needs to be heard.

Unable to fully forget their roots, a few of the songs delve into the goth-influenced gloom of The Cure, Bauhaus and Joy Division; your tolerance for those bands will determine how much you like the combined 14 minutes of "Holiday On The Moon" and "Haunted When The Minutes Drag," but listeners unfamiliar with this band will likely get bored. Several of the other songs present these themes in more approachable forms, such as the 1988 remix of "Mirror People" and the single version of "No Big Deal," which sounds like a dry run for U2's Achtung Baby.

The Temptations cover of "Ball Of Confusion," presented here in edited form, doesn't even come close to the soul or historical import of the original but is a fun, energetic listen all the same. "So Alive" remains one of the great forgotten hits of the era, with its cool-as-ice beat and languid, reverb-laden vocals, culminating in the female "doo-doo-oooh" fade-outs that complete the piece. Longtime fans of the band complained of a sellout, but it is equally as good as anything on Express, although maybe a bit better produced.

The ‘90s songs are not as bad as their albums, but they seem like retreads of the better songs from the first four albums, with only the bassline on the snarky "Holy Fool" making much of an impact, although "Sweet Lover Hangover" has another U2 idea, sounding like the lost cousin to "Discotheque" from Pop. The songs are not chronological, which works to this collection's advantage, because there is little that could have followed "Saudade" as an ending.

Those completely unfamiliar with Love And Rockets outside of "So Alive" would do well to start here and then dig into Express if they like what they hear. For a career capsule of a good forgotten alternative British band, one that is fairly dark yet approachable and varied in their musical sound,  Sorted! is a delight.

Rating: B

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