Graham Coxon – I Can’t Look At Your Skin / What’s He Got? (Parlophone)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
A better summation of Coxon's recent 'Love Travels At Illegal Speeds' album than this double A-Side could probably not be found. It's an LP consisting of either breakneck, snotty punk, deliciously cute pop, or, in its finest moments, the tasty fruits of farming the middle ground between the two.
'I Can't Look At Your Skin' is of the first kind, a runaway rock and roll riot discussing the annoyances of unrequited teenage lust with Graham's Buzzcocks adoration in full focus. 'What's He Got?', on the other hand, finds him on twee-pilot; a frightfully jaunty organ led romp whereby Graham whines about a lass finding another fella more appealing than his bespectacled self for no blatantly apparent reason. "Guess he's just better looking than me", he concludes, whilst any female of fourteen years of age at the time of 'Parklife' shrieks in disagreement.
Two sides of the album, two sides of the man (not to mention an alarmingly well delivered Libertines cover, 'Time For Heroes' on the flip). The real question (apart from where exactly has his Transcopic Records label gone?) remains this though - precisely when will the album's real masterpiece, that aforementioned fruit of the middle ground 'Tell It Like It Is', get to attack the airwaves? Still, all the more reason to buy the LP...
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