Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

been listening to a lot of lloyd cole lately. I've never understood why he's never seemed to get his due, either commercially (well, that doesn't exactly surprise me), or critically, as a songwriter. yeah, the records he's made (most notably with the commotions, who were his attractions) are wonderful. but the songs! just take this line from "jennifer she said": "did you ever have a bad dream, wake up and it not stop?" so simple, yet no one put it down quite that way until lloyd did. and who would've had the sheer chutzpah to title a (solo) record don't get weird on me, babe? from lloyd, somehow, though, it doesn't sound like the sleazy come-on it could from nearly anyone else. "sean penn blues," "forest fire," "are you ready to be heartbroken?," and on - the catalog, if heard (which was lloyd's biggest problem, especially in the u.s.), speaks quite loudly for itself. I rank lloyd, unquestionably, up there with morrissey and leonard cohen in terms of the ripe sardonicism and bitter truths their lyrics convey. not to mention the incredibly wittiness of it all. 1984-89, a sterling comp of his years with the commotions, is still in print (in the u.s. at least). grab it immediately, I implore you.