BOB MOULD - The Last Dog and Pony Show (Creation Records - CRECD215)

This album was received elsewhere with the same lack of enthusiasm as a Frank Black album. All I can say is ****WIT! Yes this is another Bob album, but given this man's track record, that should be recommendation enough.

There are many echoes here of Bob's previous work and it could be described as a consolidation of his previous work, but there is largely a freshness to this rock music that Mr Black (and many others) would do well to emulate.

First up is a classic Bob opener "New #1", which starts with strummed acoustic guitars before the bass and drums kick in. To be honest Bob usually does have classic openers and this follows in the tradition of "The Act We Act", "The Gift" and "Anymore Time Between" from recent years. Ooh yeah! "Moving Trucks" is possibly reminiscent of Sugar with a great tune and impassioned vocal to keep the standard high. "Taking Everything" is a little bit more routine, if not Bob-by-numbers, and is in the tradition of high octane Bob rockers.

"First Drag of the Day" is a bit more fractured and funky and is a noticeable change of pace, whilst "Classifieds", an odd choice of single, is really a Sugar clone and is probably the low point of the album. "Who was Around?" recalls the quiter moments of "Black Sheets of Rain" with quiet verse and a very BSOR chorus.

"Skintrade" is a rousing opener to side 2, whilst "Vaporub" again changes pace towards a slower acoustic number reminiscent of something off "Workbook". "Sweet Serene" has a kind of throaty guitar riff which is kind of sweet and er.. serene and again ups the pace towards the dramatic climax to the LP. The next track "Megamanic" was apparently a reaction against Bob feeling that the album was too obvious and frankly sounds like it's on the wrong LP as it's a cut and paste electronic job with sampled vocals which oddly enough works well where it's placed on the LP (Funkwi!?). "Reflecting Pool" has the riff-of-the-album which emerges from electronic feedback and treated vocals. It is one of these melancholic yet defiant songs in which Bob rails simultaneously against the worst of life and still comes out like there is something to live for. It's Bob at his best.

The album's closer, "Along The Way", once again drops the pace for a reflective finale as Bob laments a loss.

This is once again a classic example of my poor writing because re-reading this review I've failed comprehensively to convey how good this album is. So to be blunt, buy it and encourage one of rock's underrated treasures.

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