Graham Coxon - Happiness In Magazines

Silly me! All this time as a Blur fan, and I though Damon was the talented one. What on earth was I thinking - when it's clear from the decline in the quality of Blur's releases since guitarist Graham Coxon's departure and the serious proof from this album that it was Coxon, not Albarn, who really knew how to write a fab pop tune? So now, despite a rather unsatisfying extended venture into punk rock, Happiness In Magazines, Coxon's forth (!!!) solo release, is finally the record that all of his fans have been waiting for. There are a few songs on this record that carry the punk vein over from his last records, but the difference is in the validity of the songs this time. It's ok to do a straight punk song when you have the stuff behind it to carry it off. Opening track "Spectacular" and especially "Freakin' Out" do this especially well. And even "No Good Time," while not really punk, has attitude that will make you chuckle - "wasted little DJ, fillin up the floor and / your records are all borin cus you're cool as hell." With "Girl Done Gone," Coxon starts off in an inebriated rockabilly slur and eases into a groove that dissolves into a serious rock'n'roll tune - dark, grinding and so gritty you can almost smell the cheap beer spilled on the floor. Who knew he had that sort of song in him? One thing that really made an impression on me is the rhythm with which Coxon delivers his lyrics. When you see the words printed on the liner, you're not at all sure how he's going to make them fit the tune he's carrying. But he pulls it off, and quite artfully, each time. I'd have to say that predictability is something Coxon doesn't bother with, and he doesn't need to. And what to say about "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery"? Wow - this is as fine a song as was ever released by Coxon's former band. Poppy, quirky and absolutely brilliant. (I wonder if Damon's crying in a corner somewhere?) Other songs that I can't stop playing are "Are You Ready," with its sexy undulation, and "Bottom Bunk." Unfortunately though, like all of the albums of his former band, there is at least one song that makes absolutely no sense to me..."People of the Earth" is one of those songs. Yes, it's half spoken word, with distorted vocals, and half punk. Maybe it's the art school boy in him, but I just can't appreciate it. It almost seems like he had to throw something on here that wouldn't be so easy to love...just to challenge the listener. "Don't Be a Stranger" hits a few sour notes as well, but then the chorus of "make yourself a cigarette, fix yourself a drink / don't be a stranger, don't be a stranger (to you your shrink)" comes in and saves the whole thing, and it kind of makes sense. Though the record took its sweet time making it to this side of the pond, there's no debate about the fact that Happiness In Magazines is Coxon's strongest and most impressive solo work. It seems that there is finally a lot to be happy about all the way round. [www.grahamcoxon.co.uk]