The Coral - 'The Invisible Invasion' (Deltasonic)
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Three years ago, rockfeedback was raving over The Coral's gob-smacking, everything-but-the-kitchen-bong eponymous debut. Since then, the career path of the young Hoylake sextet has been every bit as unpredictable as the band themselves.
In between the legendary festival appearances, wacky interviews and all the, erm, 'herbal assistance', there came a sophomore effort. 'Magic and Medicine' displayed marked evidence of Proper Songwriting -Don't Think You're the First', 'Pass It On' - that almost (but didn't quite) elevate the band to bona-fide pop star status. 'Nightfreak and The Sons of Becker' a challenging, experimental mini-album followed in early 2004, allowing fellow Scouse oddballs The Zutons to nudge their way in front with a more accessible version of The Coral's template and nab the chart hits.
But despite a lead-off single, the lovely 'In The Morning' breaking the top 10 earlier this year, The Coral are refusing to go completely soft around the edges. Although they are clearly capable of writing tunes as user-friendly as they come, the howling Sonic Youth sound waves on 'Cripples Crown' and the weird, effects-laden 'A Warning To The Curious' bear testimony to the fact they won't rely solely on them.
'Arabian Sand', meanwhile, finds James Skelly rasping, 'Can you dance with the lepers in the madman's house?!', over and over, like the deranged bastard offspring of a Scouse Tom Waits. And, yet, the band is happy to slip into jaunty, conventional pop mode when ever the fancy takes them: check the Spry, 'So Long Ago' (quite possibly the catchiest pop song ever written about The Wright Brothers and the world's first mechanical aeroplane flight) and the straightforward Britpop oomph of 'Something Inside Of Me'.
So 'The Invisible Invasion' is an album of wilful contradictions and determined weirdness. Just the sort of stuff, actually, that made The Coral so interesting in the first place.
Artists in this article: The Coral
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