Originally posted July 7, 2014
RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY
If you loved Joy Division, you'll like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, who
similarly inhabit a bleak world in which swirling guitar figures and
pretentious, gloomy lyrics are the only comforts. While Joy Division was
the unchallenged champ of these nether regions, Leeds' Lorries work the
territory with enough savvy and intelligence (not to mention a cool
suppressed-acid-rock guitar sound) to make it work. Talk About the Weather ultimately succumbs to its own murky tunelessness, but not without a fight.
After that LP, they recorded a great single, "Chance." With distorted
organ drone and a rushed tempo, it sounded as if the band had located
its own true voice. However, Paint Your Wagon borrows enough from
Ian Curtis and Joy Division that you'd think it had been released by
Factory (c. 1981), especially on cuts like "Head All Fire" and "Save My
Soul." A disappointing follow-up to such a promising debut.
The back cover of the Smashed Hits singles compilation is
covered with flattering bits from newspaper clippings, and the tracks
really do live up to most of the praise. Most of the band's finest
moments are included, such as "Hollow Eyes," "Generation" and "Chance."
The guitar work is so good that it covers up the weak points, especially
the vocal Curtisisms and the kickless, rudimentary rhythm section. (The
CD adds two tracks.) They've changed their name back and forth between
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and the Lorries a few times recently, releasing
one mini-LP (Crawling Mantra) as the latter.
Nothing Wrong is marked and almost marred by an unshifting
swarm of buzzing guitar noise with just enough off-kilter harmonies to
break up the drone. A developing melodic flair is apparent, but none of
the material ranks with the band's best, and Chris Reed's bleak lyrics
are straight out of an Existentialism 101 textbook. "Only Dreaming (Wide
Awake)" is the most diverting effort, with an acoustic guitar intro and
outro, a bass riveting enough to please J.J. Burnel and even a
tambourine in the chorus; only Reed's deep bellowing prevents it from
being a genuine pop song (maybe that's the idea).
Blow sports Ecstasy/rave cover art (after the Lorries' usual
black, gray and brown, bright colors are a breakthrough). Half-jumping
on the acid house bandwagon, Blow takes the band a giant step
forward in terms of melodicism and diversity of sound. Staying clear of
the old monochromatic wall of noise, the production gives them plenty of
punch and much more warmth; the space between instruments (more
keyboards and background vocals this time) helps clarify the sound more
than ever before. The Joy Division comparisons can finally be put to
rest.
~John Leland/David Sheridan
I really like this band. I don't really hear the comparison to Joy Division...so much for rock critics. I believe I may have posted this at the old FBS once upon a time.
Set List:
01 intro
02 Chance
03 Blitz
04 Talk About The Weather
05 Bumper
06 Walking On Your Hands
07 Mescal Dance
08 Save My Soul
09 Strange Dream
10 outro
Thanks to the original source!!
pass-fbsvw
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