Lloyd Cole And The Commotions: Classic Or Dud

The set and the banter sound magnificent.

Could the trouble with the phone be the blood?

To-day?

But then I read the contents and warmed slightly. And did not buy it.

I kinda went off him when we went to see them at wembley arena, and it was all so 'another day another gig' dull for him, seemingly.

Last night at the Barras - the anticipation in the air, me feeling like a fraud after last week, the awful support artist ("please buy my album..."), the smell of the place once again.

Lloyd to rapturous crowd: "This is weird, isn't it?"
Rapturous crowd: "YES!!"

He looked GOOD, clean shaven and from a greater distance - if he'd dyed his hair, you could almost have been fooled into believing it was 1984 again, if you wanted it to be.

Add to previous set - Four Flights Up and Patience. Cor.

Neil Clark is some kind of demi-god, I suppose. His lines are so articulate, aciculate even, carving their way through sweaty air and hearts and bones and plastic pint glasses.

Lloyd: "I don't know if I speak for the rest of the band, but I'm really old."

I read something about 'Rattlesnakes' being an album of instant nostalgia; I don't know if this was nostalgia or not - it was poignant, certainly. People around their forties rushing down to the front to be close to Lloyd, having grown out and back into that kind of devotion perhaps, or never having lost it but simply having nowhere to place it, to make it relevant; my friend's brother's tale of catching the minibus after school in '85 to see The Commotions play; songs relating to old girlfriends; the final, grand last stand, LC gathering the troops together for, what, not even a bow, just the sense and grace and excitement of being a band again, before walking off. That was moving. A long way down, indeed.

What, Simon Pegg out of Shaun of the Dead?

In other Lllllloyd news: Dave Eggars 'I was a teenage Lloyd Cole fan': http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1353957,00.html

Perhaps because the song is actually based on Renata Adler's novel, ahem, 'Speedboat', Dave?

Must read Cook's reporting back!

And thanks, Doc.

I will exchange it for something more suitable, I think.

OTM. I used to be very fond of this record but lost my copy years ago. I recently replaced it and wished I hadn't bothered. I couldn't believe how badly the production had dated.

-- PJ Miller (pjmiller6...), May 25th, 2005.

"Easy Pieces", maybe..

If you dig into the http://www.lloydcole.com forum, there are rough MP3s of new songs, which seem close to _Music in a Foreign Language_ in style.

Well, classic. An under appreciated one, for sure. His first solo album LC has the potential to launch him into significant recognition in the USA, but the circumstances did not gel per chance.

I have briefly met Lloyd twice, both times at Mercury Lounge in NYC. First at a Del Amitri (they are friends w/ LC) concert - where after listening to my drivel re my fav LC songs, he predicted (correctly) that I may like his next disc Love Story. The next time was in the late afternoon when he was having a beer while doing his set list for a benefit concert (for Elephants). I was asking the bartender for tickets when he modestly told me that it was not going to be a real LC concert for he would only be playing 5 or 6 songs even though headlining. The concert was quite good, and luckily introduced me to the female Lloyd Cole in the form of one Karen Iris (http://www.karenires.com/).

Ranking the discs:

1 Lloyd Cole X *****
2 Rattlesnakes *****
3 Love Story *****
4 Negatives ****1/2
5 Don't get weird ****
6 Easy Pieces ****
7 Bad Vibes ***1/2
8 Mainstream ***
9 MIFL ***

we will bypass Etc and Plastic Wood for side projects... looking forward to anti-depressant.

For those wondering what LC would perhaps sound like if he was born in Pennsylvania, sang even more about betrayal, had a fragment of Dylan in his voice, and played quitar more often like Robert Quine -- consider Kevin Salem's Ecstatic and/or Soma City.

Of course LC also gets classic bonus points for being a big influence on Matthew Sweet's GIRLFRIEND disc, even recommending to him to rename, rock-up and imclude the title song.

I saw Lloyd live on Sunday, with Neil Clark and a malfunctioning computer. They seemed a tad under-rehearsed. I think they should have ditched the computer and concentrated on playing guitars together. And why does Lloyd so often insist on ending songs early, and stopping Clark from taking cool exciting solos where they belong?

I was struck by how good a song 'Past Imperfect' is, for a songwriter so far into his career.

Half the PA wasn't working for half the set, and Neil's monitors were malfunctioning too.

I did not get to see The Who, apart from via the red button on my handset.