graham coxon - happiness in magazines
following the recent return to form beta band album comes this return of a
previously lost hero.
in the past graham coxon solo albums have been overly personal affairs. while there were moments of brilliance in the deliberately lo-fi/diy approach the albums were not easy to love but they were something that graham obviously had to do to exorcise his demons. but parenting, well documented rehab, and personal creative control have at last helped graham to grow up and realise that his songs are worthy of mass acceptance.
so, for this 5th album he has decided that its time to show the world that the man who crafted many of last decades best guitar pop songs is still capable of such creations, and, instead release an album of emotionally charged guitar pop for all to enjoy. one of the the key factors with this albums success is the fact that graham has teamed up with stephen street, and with their shared mutual history and respect for the classic pop song, they have crafted a perfect indie guitar album. some songs are straight-atcha in a wonderful skids/ruts 1977 punk fashion (the excellent freakin' out) whereas others recall the glory days of ray davies, xtc, and even the garage stomp of the fall (the hilarious 'people of the earth' with its alien leader diatribe telling us mere humans how sh*te things are)
the main emphasis though out the album is on listenable guitar pop music, with grahams love for the us underground noise of sonic youth/dinosaur jnr surfacing from time to time but being kept within acceptable shackles by stephen. i suspect that graham knows that this album is precisely what a lot of people have been wanting from him ever since the famous split from the other lot. and boy oh boy, has he delivered!