Suede
Sci-Fi Lullabies
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Suede
Sci-Fi Lullabies
Nude/Columbia, 1997
RiYL: David Bowie, Gene, Morrissey/The Smiths, Pulp |
So goes the second verse of "My Insatiable One," one of two b-sides from Suede's first single "The Drowners." Having penned such delightfully unattractive sentiments from the very start, singer Brett Anderson has become something of a late-century Oscar Wilde. He flaunts his feminine torso all over the UK press, claims to be a bisexual who has never had a homosexual relationship and apparently is the pinnacle of most girls' (and boys') fantasies.
It's all almost secondary to the fact that Suede has released four acclaimed albums, plus the magically mysterious EP Stay Together and here, a 27-song double B-sides album with the sharp title Sci-Fi Lullabies.
Disc one summarizes the band's work with its old guitar-slinger Bernard Butler. Early live favorite "He's Dead" best displays Bernie's psychotic, Gibson 335 trem-bar madness while "Whipsnade" and the trumpet-infected "The Big Time" must have been pinched from heaven. The obligatory heroin number can be found in "The Living Dead," while "Whipsnade" marks some of Anderson's most curious and creative lyricism: "Cause when the firelight shocks like a cop shop pyre / We'll sack the politics for premonition and fire."
On disc two, youngster Richard Oakes is taking his tones and riffs from a Butler rummage sale, and angelic keyboardist Neil Codling is newly employed. It is also here that we see how Suede is incredibly adept at painting musical pictures of typical British lifestyles, using silence as a canvas.
Although the rockers and ballads are still in top form, the experimental numbers are the ones to make note of, as they hint at possible new directions and sound for future Suede albms. Butler would have never had anything to do with the bleeps and trip-hop drums on "W.S.D," but that's just fine, since "Graffiti Women" finds Oakes finally displaying a few of his own tricks.
Astoundingly, there are hardly any weak tracks on Sci-Fi Lullabies, a perfect summary of the band's entire history and progression. This collection commands respect for a band that has maintained a unique sense of style, taste and talent.
PAUL FOREMAN |