2x****
"Winner's Blues" begins the record with unexpected tunefullness on a kind of lo-fi folk number, which leads into alternative hit "Bull In The Heather"****, with Gordon's patented breathy vocal and tasty riffs juxtaposed with the strange melodies and guitar noise. Songs like "Skink" and "Bone" rely on the mysterious tunings and the Gordon effect, while "Screaming Skull", "Quest For The Cup", and especially "Tokyo Eye" highlight the hard-hitting guitar noise. "Self-Obsessed And Sexxee" tries to milk the New York cool for all its worth while absolutely dragging, but "Waist" and "In The Mind Of The Bourgeois Reader" make use of some needed rock energy. Unfortunately this album is more generous with the artsy than with the hooks. "Starfield Road" takes half the song for a lazy groove and melody to find its way out, and the repitition of "Androgonous Mind" gets old really fast, despite some weird guitar pinging. Closing track "Sweet Shine"**** is the only other song that coalesces, in this instance around Gordon's bellowed 'I'm coming home to squall drive', whatever.
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