The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 

Morrissey | Swords

UME Imports (2009)
By ZETH LUNDY  |  November 6, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

0911_moz_main

Morrissey — begrudging patron saint of all that is emotionally desolate and otherwise comfortably bummed — is but a mere mortal, as his recent collapse on stage proves. The Sharply Dressed One has been cranking out new music at an exhausting pace, with three studio records and one live album in the past five years.

Following on the heels of this year’s fantastic Years of Refusal, the equally fantastic (if prosaically titled) Swords collects the wealth of Morrissey’s recent B-sides. This may be the most immediate and catchy thrill of Mozzer’s post-millennial output, as “Children in Pieces,” “It’s Hard To Walk Tall When You’re Small,” and the Eastern-inflected “Good Looking Man About Town” would argue.

There are plenty of fatalistic life lessons here (if you don’t like me, don’t look at me; shame rules the world; Christian Dior will suffice as a metaphor for how we fucked up), not to mention a crushing live cover of David Bowie’s “Drive-In Saturday.” Conformity equals wasted life in “Teenage Dad on His Estate,” which laments the way we’re guided by the media. Guilty as charged, then: I’ll gladly let Moz, my all-too-human co-pilot, do my thinking for me.

Related: That's how people grow up, Slideshow: Morrissey at House of Blues, Morrissey | Years of Refusal, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , David Bowie, Morrissey (Singer), MORRISSEY,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

ARTICLES BY ZETH LUNDY
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   MORRISSEY | SWORDS  |  November 06, 2009
    Morrissey — begrudging patron saint of all that is emotionally desolate and otherwise comfortably bummed — is but a mere mortal, as his recent collapse on stage proves.
  •   DAVID BOWIE | SPACE ODDITY: 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION  |  October 30, 2009
    David Bowie’s 1969 album Man of Music/Man of Words was retitled a few years after its debut, most likely because it was quickly becoming known as Space Oddity and Those Other Eight Songs We Could Care Less About .
  •   SPIRAL STAIRS | THE REAL FEEL  |  October 21, 2009
    As his former band prepare to stage their much-ballyhooed reunion next year, Scott Kannberg is breaking his five-year recording silence with what is arguably his least cryptic post-Pavement release.
  •   FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS | I TOLD YOU I WAS FREAKY  |  October 14, 2009
    The New Zealand “folk-comedy” duo Flight of the Conchords transcended folk and comedy on their debut LP, a soundtrack to the absurdist HBO show of the same name, with genre parodies that were great songs in their own right.
  •   THE FLAMING LIPS | EMBRYONIC  |  October 19, 2009
    If new albums by Super Furry Animals, 50 Foot Wave, and the Flaming Lips are any indication, 2009 is smack in the middle of a new psychedelic age.

 See all articles by: ZETH LUNDY

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group