The guitars come in with a roar; there isn’t a synthesizer in sight, let alone the influence of a laptop. It’s as if hip-hop never existed. It’s 2009. It’s Morrissey’s new album! I see the words “Play Very Loud” written on the back of the sleeve. Sure thing Moz!
The attention grabbing vocals and crunching guitars on opener, ‘Something is Squeezing My Skull’ set the tone nicely for the whole album. Simply put, Morrissey is not messing about. His voice sounds as good as it ever has, while his backing band, The Tormentors, have turned up sounding hungry and muscular. Years of Refusal finds Morrissey doing everything that he does best. Expect lots of wit, theatre, memorable melodies and an acerbic sense of humor. It might even be as good as his 2004 comeback, We are the Quarry, but for some reason, despite the glowing summation I just provided, I find it hard to get that excited about it. Why?
To answer that question, let’s jump back to 2004. The Arcade Fire have just released Funeral, and Modest Mouse are making hay on the charts. Morrissey’s voice strikes me as being a key touchstone for the theatrical deliveries of both Win Butler and Isaac Brock, making him more than relevant in this unusual environment. Given that he had been out of sight for seven years the scene was perfectly set for a comeback. In 2009 things are a little different. Years of Refusal is his third album in 5 years, making him a known entity once again. Still, a good album is a good album, so what else is going on here? Perhaps it’s just because everything sounds so primitive. Now I still love the sound of a raw, distorted guitar, but on the other hand, much of the music I’ve been listening to lately tends to hit you from across the sonic spectrum. Let’s have a look at my iTunes “Recently Played” list to test this theory:
MIA, Santigold, Kanye West, Animal Collective, Jay-Z, Friendly Fires, The Ruby Suns, M83, The Dismemberment Plan, The Beta Band and El Guincho.
I’m going to assume that pretty much anyone reading this would at least recognise one or two of those names, so you probably get the picture. There just isn’t much coming out right now that uses the formula Morrissey has opted for on Years of Refusal, and if it does it’s probably the work of a young, up-and-coming, energetic act with something to prove (someone like Cut Off Your Hands, who I think are pretty decent). Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and the album isn’t too long or too complicated. Its songs are generally pretty strong, but from a sonic perspective there just isn’t enough going on to really pull me in. On previous albums Morrissey’s voice and theatricalities have been more than enough to ensure his work remained engaging, but in the age of ‘Ye and Jay, Moz just sounds old and maudlin