Description
Remastered 2010 release in digipak featuring two albums on one cd
Foxheads Stalk This Land
In the mid-’80s, when Britain’s underground music scene was dominated by jangly guitars, twee vocals, and fast rhythms, the Close Lobsters were there at the heart. The unusually named Foxheads Stalk This Land was not an album that suffered from over-production, however, this gives the songs a live, gritty feel. Influences stem, quite blatantly, from the Smiths, Orange Juice, the Byrds, and the Buzzcocks. Lyrically, the album does not bear close attention. Most songs comprise phrases which sound good when sung but not printed on a lyrics sheet — perhaps that’s how pop music should be. There is rarely a substandard track to be heard on this fine album, with “I Kiss The Flower In Bloom” being able to grace any Oasis or R.E.M. album.
Headache Rhetoric
Darker-hued and more aggressive than the Close Lobsters’ much sunnier early releases, Headache Rhetoric is an aptly named album full of roiling guitars, foreboding lyrics, and an increasing sense of tension. Yet even on the most lyrically distressing songs, like the self-explanatory “My Days Are Numbered,” there’s a dedication to classic pop structures that gives the song a Kinks-like shuffle driven by Robert Burnett’s bouncy, McCartney-esque bassline. Similarly, “Got Apprehension” sets a cheerful little ditty about death by decapitation to a sunny “sha-la-la” chorus. By the end of the album, with a powerful remake of “Skyscrapers of St. Mirin” from the 1998 EP What Is There to Smile About and the extended neo-psychedelic freakout “Knee Trembler,” there’s an almost oppressive sense of doom to the album; set off by the prettiness of most of the melodies and the hazy jangle of the guitars, the overall effect is somewhat akin to Love’s Forever Changes, minus the orchestrations.
Track list:
1. Just Too Bloody Stupid
2. Sewer Pipe Dream
3. I Kiss The Flowers In Bloom
4. Pathetique
5. A Prophecy
6. In Spite Of These Times
7. Foxheads
8. I Take Bribes
9. Pimps
10. Mother Of God
11. Just Too Bloody Stupid
12. Sewer Pipe Dream
13. I Kiss The Flower In Bloom
14. Pathetique
15. A Prophecy
16. In Spite Of These Times
17. Foxheads
18. I Take Bribes
19. Pimps
20. Mother Of God