Nothing New This Time

Originally posted on 26/10/09

Never Cry Another Tear - Bad Lieutenant - Album Review

I have rather a soft spot for anything that Barney Sumner does. Or at least you'd think I do, considering how I feel about New Order, but truth be told, Electronic annoyed me because it was time that could've been put into New Order, and Bad Lieutenant annoys me further because this is formed with people from New Order.

And it's still shite.

Bad Lieutenant is a collection of people. You've got Barney signing on most songs and playing guitar, "the new guy" from New Order, Phil Cunningham, Steve Morris doing drums and programming on a few songs, that twat from Blur that bawled like a baby on the Orange Unsigned Act program playing bass on a few songs, and then two other faceless people from Salford. I wouldn't care about the last two so much, but unfortunately, one of them signs every now and again, and your attention gets rather drawn to someone who has some sort of droning voice that's vaguley reminiscent of a drunk Liam Gallagher wannabe in a karaoke bar in Tenerife somewhere. The strange assembly of people merely highlights the fact that what was once before with New Order will never be repeated until they're all back together. Which is unlikely. A shame really, because it means that this band and ultimately, any other thing a New Order member does will be seen as a comparison, rather than a seperate consideration.

Despite my having had this album for a week I think i've listened to it fully once. Coming in at over an hour long with the 2 bonus tracks on the version I got, it will bore you to tears. A sure sign of a bad album, regardless of who it's by. Every song manages to bore the life out of you, all of them coming in about a minute and a crappy guitar solo too long to stay fresh, and this leads to the album dragging. Which an album should never do.

The new guy that sings, Jake Evans is a bloody atrocity, with vocals that ruin every line he sings, with awful chrouses that he has like "So shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine on meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee/My looooooooooooooooooo-oh-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuve" presenting you with the vocal equivalent of chewing cardboard. The welcome relief in these cases come when he mercifully relinquishes the microphone to Barney, whose lovely, awkward vocal delivery manage to reassure you, and give you at least some reason to keep listening. Even if there is an instance of swearing in one of the songs, which just sounds wrong in a song sung by him. There are some good moments lyrically, Runaway and Twist of Fate being those moments, and predictibly these end up being the best songs.

It has to be said, that this album proves what made New Order great: the way each member complimented each other. Everything in New Order was by no means perfect, but they all came together and made something so beautiful. Therefore, it's no surprise that the instance where you've got 3/4 of New Order, Posionous Intent, manages to be the best sounding song. Even if it is the one with swearies in it. There can be too much of a good thing though. And by that, I mean that the blatant ripping off of pretty much anything, mostly New Orfer, in every song.

Sink or Swim is Hey Now What You Doing, lyrically and musically.
Twist of Fate is Primitive Notion
Summer Days rips off I Am the Resurrection
This is Home is a strange mixture of Turn and Who's Joe
Running Out of Luck is a watered down version of As It Is When It Was
Dynamo is Baba O'Riley and the song at the end of School of Rock
Poisonous Intent is the music of Chemical and the lyrics of Rock the Shack
These Changes is.... awful
Walk on Silver Water is like Republic in a food blender
Shine Like the Sun has the audacity to rip off Love Vigilantes' opening
Runaway, while best song on the album, is Run Wild with All the Way's synths
Head Into Tomorrow is something you'd hear a busker sing
Falling Trees has a Working Overtime/Heavy Weather by Jarvis Cocker
Split the Atom is just... dross

There is no imagination in this album. There are no new ides, nothing original, nothing that hasn't been done before, either by the musicians putting it together or by those influencing them. It bores you to tears and those tears merely add to the ones you were crying when you bought this and knew it had Barney's voice and it wasn't New Order. He can do better than this. And so should you