Kevin Godley and Lol Creme may be best known for their time in
\n10cc, but it is after they branched out that their true colours
\nbegan to show. Godley and Creme now do most of their work in the
\nfield of video, where their handiwork can clearly be seen in the
\noriginality of their approach. Their own brand of eclecticism and
\nhumour (often sour or satirical, tis true) also permeates their
\nearly musical output.<\/p>\n
For those of you who have never heard this lyrically-driven
\nalbum, an odd experience awaits you. Enjoyment of this album is
\noften intellectual rather than visceral, but there are rhythms and
\nbeats running through the words that make for a good listen all the
\nsame. You can hear clearly the presence of someone’s tongue pressed
\nfirmly into his cheek. Those of us who caught this album first time
\naround probably only dip into it once a year at most, now, as the
\nyears are not kind to repeated listenings, but those first two
\ndozen spins or so are worth the price of admission.<\/p>\n
We kick off with “Snack Attack”. The track contains an urgent,
\ncatchy beat created by a funky bass and counter-balanced with a
\npleasing drum backbeat. An “up yours” saxophone goes its own way
\nthroughout, and on top is an intimate, high-in-the-mix set of
\nvocals. The lyrics are clever, the subject matter inane, but
\namusing.<\/p>\n
“Under Your Thumb” is a ghost story that received a fair bit of
\nairplay (in the UK certainly) and is well presented. The haunting
\nsound and lyrics sit strangely on top of a busy set of keys in the
\nbackground, but the odd combination works. “Joey’s Camel” is a
\nslower reprise of “Snack Attack”. The subject is an
\nEgyptologist-type character and his misadventures, a highly amusing
\nstory.<\/p>\n
“The Problem” follows, a rather hypnotic piece of music, with an
\nalmost droning quality to it. By carefully listening to the lyrics,
\na complicated and improbably constructed logic-problem question is
\nrevealed. Further listening shows the question to be utter
\nnonsense, but the journey there is amusing. The track segues into
\n“Ready For Ralph”, which borrows the musical theme of the previous
\nsong. This song’s significance entirely escapes me, leaving me free
\nto enjoy the saxophone solo and choruses, untroubled by lyrical
\nconsiderations.<\/p>\n
Another track that received a good deal of airplay is “Wedding
\nBells”. On the surface, this is a harmless piece of commercialism.
\nThe overall sound is sickly-sweet, but this belies the poignant
\nunderlying message of the lyrics – take this track at face value at
\nyour own peril. My abiding memory of this song is of the
\naccompanying video, with the image of a wedding altar, a groom and
\na bride dressed in a wedding dress and chains. One for the boys
\nperhaps.<\/p>\n
“Lonnie” is an almost pointless pun on a Lee Harvey Oswald type
\ncharacter. I feel I must point out that Peter Gabriel did a
\ndifferent and rather better interpretation the year before with
\n“Family Snapshot”, off his eponymous third album. “Sale Of The
\nCentury” sounds like a schmaltzy, doo-wah sort of affair on first
\nlistening, but I actually find it diverting and quite amusing. It
\nholds a fascination for me for which I cannot account, but like
\n“Lonnie”, it is one of the weaker tracks.<\/p>\n
The final track on the album is entitled “The Party”. This song
\nis an absolute treasure and must be heard to be believed. Two or
\nthree listenings in, you are laughing too hard to hear the rest of
\nthe lyrics. The biting social satire lyrics have an entirely
\nfitting musical accompaniment.<\/p>\n
The album as a whole is not strong from a composition
\nstandpoint. Its chief appeal comes from its fruity, catchy rhythms,
\nthe occasionally peculiar sonic quality and of course, the hugely
\nentertaining lyrics.
\nIsmism<\/i> is a niche album, created by pair of niche artists.
\nIt won’t appeal to everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":24819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5992],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-36023","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-godley-creme","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36023"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36023"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}