If you've ignored the Strangles for a decade or two, you've missed the full-blooded return of a band whose drummer is three years older than Charlie fuckin' Watts! Sure the absence of Hugh Cornwell is still felt but if you consider how they slid into being a bit of a frat-rock cover band ("96 Tears", "All Day and All of the Night") during his final years, it's an endurable loss. In 2004 the remaining band (Burnel, Black and Greenfield along with new guitarist Baz Warne and front man Paul Roberts) roared back, spitting nails. Back on E.M.I., the band set about living up to their name, reclaiming diverse elements from their most fertile period ('76-'82 give or take). The single, "Big Thing Coming" (which hit # 31 on the English charts) proves the firepower of this incarnation, with Roberts' gauzy vocals erasing memories of Cornwell and the glorious tension between Greenfield's bubbling keyboards and Burnel's guttural bass being kept taut by Black's driving rhythms. Plus it's just a damn good song.
Support the band - buy Norfolk Coast or another Strangler-iffic album!
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Well I just bought two tickets to see The Stranglers play in Oxford (UK) on 17th March 2010. Looking forward to it as the bands last two studio albums have been brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThe Stranglers died long ago - They are dead. Qui usurpe leur nom ? My friend, he was the raven
ReplyDeleteA+
ReplyDeleteMarky
ReplyDeletePlease leave us a mini-review - personally I want to know how Jet - 71! - survives the set.
Paul
Long live the usurpers!
Anon
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It will be my pleasure Jeff ....watch this space.
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