REVIEW: Charlatans UK, Us and Us Only (MCA)
- Chris Hill
Now on their sixth studio album, the Charlatans UK again deliver with the talent and creativity that has carried the band through the lean years in their ten year career. While other Manchester bands like the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses have faltered, the Charlatans UK (the UK added to appease a namesake '60s band) have weathered shifting public attention and an internal tragedy in the death of founding member and keyboardist Rob Collins, the man responsible for their signature organ sound. Sobered, refocused, the band is now touring behind an album touted as their best yet.
Tony Rogers, Collins' permanent replacement, took some big shoes and filled them well. The soul of Us and Us Only is found in the keyboards, whether romp-stomping honky-tonk on "The Blonde Waltz," '60s psychedelic atmosphere on "Forever Full," or the bluesy, Southern "Senses." The guitar and bass are essential limbs in the band's sound, but its body is found in the organ.
If the organ's the body, singer Tim Burgess is its soul. On the Stones-y "Impossible," Burgess grounds his distinctive tones against a swirling organ, bouncing keyboards, and an impish harmonica. On "The Blonde Waltz," which wouldn't be out of place on an Elliott Smith or Harry Nilsson album, he phrases the lyrics to roll over themselves, establishing a rhythm that breaks like a wave at the chorus. "Wouldn't it be nice to get away/Shout "Morning! How are you today?"/My hands are blazing/My arms are broken/...I guess I didn't take a look/I guess I'm your man." Burgess's vocals are more audible here than on previous releases, and the disc benefits greatly for it.
The ten-song album flows from strong track to strong track. On "A House is Not a Home," the fifth song, the guitar takes center stage with a repeating loopy riff that backs the sneering vox. "This is a house/This is not a home/...I can't do this anymore/I have sworn this/I will never be yours." "I Don't Care Where You Live" , a short number with a tinkling piano backbone, uses harmony choruses that swell from the quiet verses, cresting in the sweet final lines "I don't care where you live/ for today I started loving you again." Track nine, "The Blind Stagger" contains some odd lyrics: "You've been bitten/by eleven hungry kittens/who will go the whole distance/while the blind stagger." Adding to the fun, an acoustic guitar that gives way halfway through to a muscled electric, and thundering keyboards.
The album closes with "Watching You," all epic bravado that springs up from a repeating keyboard riff and runs headlong into the distance. "It took a long time/and I'm missing you/ It took a long time/but I found you" - the sentiment makes for a great, well-chosen finale.
