 Sarah Cracknell The first album by Saint Etienne's lead singer is a fantastic assortment of club tunes, Bacharach ballads, and the type of retro-pop Saint Etienne are famous for. I bought Lipslide at import price before it was reconfigured and issued in the US. In monetary terms, the album is probably worth about $10 less than I ended up paying for it, but I would certainly not want to be without it. "Ready Or Not" may be the best song of 1997, and I'd love to find out how many people have ever heard it. Just a beautiful, heartbreaking ballad the likes of which we've only heard from Dusty Springfield. The album could have ended there (it's the first track) and I wouldn't have felt gypped. Other standouts: "Coastal Town" (sort of a lovestruck "Everyday is Like Sunday"), "Taking Off For France" (sort of a girl-group "Like a Motorway"), "Penthouse Girl, Basement Boy" (sort of a techno "Eleanor Rigby"), and "Can't Stop Now" (sort of like what Wham! might be doing if Andrew Ridgeley hadn't left for greater fame). So much to like about this album. And though it doesn't, as an album, seem as permanent as Saint Etienne's best, it's a colorful chapter in the book at the very least. It's a shame that American distributors don't always pick up important releases like this and Prefab Sprout's Andromeda Heights. Okay, so maybe there's not a million Americans who listen to great music, but how much longer will we have to pay? Soon, sir, you will pay! (?)
Review by Carl Boggers |