The Strange Boys - Live Music (Rough Trade)
3/5
By: Hayley Leaver
Listening to Live Music after forgetting that The Strange Boys exist is like an awkward hug from a long-lost friend. All of the familiarity is there, and yet somehow it’s not the same.
The saxophone that glittered throughout Be Brave is long gone, and in its place a chirpy, upbeat, piano ditty that’s slightly unnerving to start with. Live Music is The Strange Boys with all of the drunken bravado and an added element of that knowing smugness so well-honed by Mr Doherty.
However as ‘You and Me’ saunters in at the halfway point, it becomes clear that The Strange Boys have matured; they’ve grown into a smoother outfit with a confident sound that doesn’t quite seem to suit them. I can’t help but miss the clammy enthusiasm with which they honed their nonchalance in their first two albums.
‘Omnia Boa’ goes back to the sixties feel and continues through to ‘Saddest’ - a stand-out highlight with an odd moment of white noise in the second half that doesn’t really have any effect whatsoever, apart from causing a panicked search for the remote control you thought you’d sat on.
The second half of Live Music is the superior half, it’s what The Strange Boys should do; groaning, pounding, smirking. However it’s the closing track, ‘Opus’ which leaves a mark when it’s over; a dark crescendo that puts you down, waiting for the final wisecrack that never quite arrives.
Artists in this article: The Strange Boys
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