Album Review – THE CHARLATANS – Different Days (Liberator/BMG)
Review by Geoff Jenke
It’s been 27 years since The Charlatan’s debut album Some Friendly and unlike their fellow Brit Pop bands, The Charlatan’s have never broken up despite losing two members along the way in Rob Collins (car crash) and drummer Jon Brooks (brain tumour). They return with their 13th album, Different Days, bringing along some friends in Johnny Marr, Paul Weller Stephen Morris (New Order), Kurt Wagner (Lambchop) and even author Ian Rankin for some spoken parts.
The band has certainly had their ups and downs over the last 30 years but fortunately for them and us, this album is definitely an up.
Opener Sunrise is an acoustic number that would not be lost on a Church album and certainly sounds like The Charlatans circa 1990. Solutions is up next and the song flows on nicely from the psych-pop of the opening song.
Crime writer Ian Rankin appears for a spoken Future Tense telling us “If I stay here, I’m safe, safe from the machinery” which then leads into the first single from the album, Plastic Machinery which features Johnny Marr. Apparently he only dropped in for an hour but stayed five and ended up on three songs. We are four actual songs into the album and it is already sounding like a classic album.
Not Forgotten is dreamy swirling song that sounds a little like the Stone Roses but is entirely a sound from Madchester 1990. There Will Be Chances has a folky feel to it and surely that is Johnny Marr’s guitar running through it.
The musical interlude that is The Setting Sun starts to build nicely when it suddenly finishes. Surely there is a complete song in this tune somewhere. But it sets up for the final song Spinning Out, co-written by Paul Weller, with him playing piano and on backing vocals. Naturally it has a lazy good feel Style Council sound to it.
Surprisingly, after thirty years, The Charlatan’s have created one of their best albums, albeit with a little help from their friends. Although it may sound like 1990 all over again, The Charlatan’s are definitely looking towards the future. It sounds fresh, but more importantly, it sounds like The Charlatans.
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