Search - Euros Childs :: Chops

Where to go after Gorky...

Il Dottore | Buffalo, NY | 03/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm surprised to see only one rather unfavorable review for Gorky-main-man's solo debut. Although on second thought I guess its not so surprising. Euros Childs's quirky genius has never provided predictable main stream pop, and he certainly hasn't started now! Not that this CD is inaccessible--just the opposite, its almost disarmingly accessible, and if you approach it on its own terms (which as any Gorky's Zygotic Mynci fans will tell you is a must for Euros), it is a glimmering masterpiece that will provide pleasure for years to come. Donkey Island is the only track that doesn't really work for my, though I 'm sure some fans of Gorky's Poodle Rockin' and Mow the Lawn lighthearted rockers will appreciate it. As for the rest of the album, it reminds me of early McCartney solo and early lennon solo work. the three short interludes Stella is a Pigmy sound quite like early john lennon at his best, and Dawnsio Dros Y Mor sounds like a welsh version of something the beatles might have written on thier trip to Rishikesh preceding the white album. Its a masterpiece of song-craft in itself, with its slightly eastern inflection, its lovely strumming rythm guitar lines, and its hints of Spanish percussion that sounds like somethig between castonettes and a rythm machine. Costa Rita is another highlight: sound like early 70's McCartneyish tropical pop song, yet its tale of Coney Island summer heart break and the music perfectly captures the feel of an end-of-the-summer beach story. Overall the album has that feel, very characteristic of Childs, of a heartbreakingly beautiful nostalgia for summers past, a nostalgia that only in its inexhaustible allure hints at the painful passing of time that is life itself. Circus Time is wonderful example of this, with its dreamy refrain "So gold in the sun/ My life had just begun" repeated like a remembered melody. Really I think only Euros is capable of such direct and honest beauty in the current pop world. ANd finally, I think the real centerpiece of the album is the long, patient, slowly developing, yet very paired down and concise, "First Time I Saw You." The piece starts out with a simple pulsating synthesizer line that repeats throughout the entire song in an almost drone-like way, and, overlaid with an equally simple and lovely repeated melody, everything develops from there, unfolding from and enveloping that one unchanging mechanical base-line. It's really a shame that works like this don't get the recognition they deserve. If you listen to "First Time I Saw You" enough times, you realize the care and genius that went into it, though it sounds effortlessy tossed off; in fact, it seems like every note is perfectly placed. It couldn't be improved. I recently saw the Super Furry Animals in concert, and while the were setting up they played First Time I Saw You on the sound system: It took on a new life and dimension in the club that gave me a sense of its huge depth and scope, its texture and subtelty. At the same time, the album has a very intimate feel; it sounds like it was recorded in his bedroom, some times even as if he woke up with a melody lingering in his head and turned on his old cassette recorder and recorded a few versus (Like billy the seagull). I HIGHLY recommend this album for those who are willing to listen without preconception and hear it on its own terms. Rock on Euros!"