{"id":9443,"date":"2019-11-13T05:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=9443"},"modified":"2019-11-12T13:20:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T13:20:24","slug":"mark-lanegan-band-somebodys-knocking-heavenly-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=9443","title":{"rendered":"Mark Lanegan Band – \u2018Somebody\u2019s Knocking\u2019 (Heavenly Recordings)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The single best thing about a certain internet shopping giant fucking up my recent pre-order for this the eleventh solo by Mark Lanegan and the fifth of those to come with the added \u201cBand\u201d moniker was that when I was chasing up my order I inadvertently got to read the tongue in cheek review on said website by one Ellie Woozle, a long-time fan of Lanegan\u2019s who described \u2018Somebody\u2019s Knocking\u2019 as sounding like an album of Erasure covers performed by Lee Marvin.
\nThis really tickled me simply because whilst it might be an oversimplification of the 14 tracks contained here (after a few listens) it really isn\u2019t that far off the mark when it comes to the super funky electro-pop of \u2018Penthouse High\u2019.
\nElsewhere though the sound is much more in keeping with the Band evolution which Lanegan has been working on with musician-producer Alain Johannes ever since 2004\u2019s excellent \u2018Bubblegum\u2019 album.
\nThere\u2019s the goth rock overtones of 2017\u2019s \u2018Gargoyle\u2019 album returning right from the off with the frantic (well by Lanegan\u2019s standard anyway) \u2018Disbelief Suspension\u2019 a track that sounds not unlike Lanegan has taken over the role of Lux Interior for one night (or song) only. Meanwhile the tracks that follow like \u2018Letter Never Sent\u2019, \u2018Night Flight To Kabul\u2019, \u2018Dark Disco Jag\u2019 and \u2018Gazing From The Shore\u2019 all could have easily fallen off peak period albums by Joy Division, The Cure, Killing Joke and The Cult, however most importantly here the choruses of these songs tower over anything Lanegan has done since that aforementioned \u2018Bubblegum\u2019 opus.
\nFans of the more melancholic side of Lanegan will revel in the almost New Order goes dubstep feel of \u2018Play Nero\u2019 whilst \u2018Paper Hat\u2019 is the first time a guitar features as the main instrument on \u2018Somebody\u2019s Knocking\u2019 and is the type of dark lullaby Mark has been wowing audiences with since he left Queens Of The Stone Age.
\n\u2018Name And Number\u2019 and \u2018Radio Silence\u2019 get the Krautrock influence quota back on track whilst \u2018War Horse\u2019 is an understated rap delivered as only Lanegan could and in \u2018Stitch It Up\u2019 and \u2018She Loved You\u2019 the big man is surely just a club remix away from filling dancefloors worldwide.
\nI can\u2019t say I\u2019m a fan of album closer \u2018Two Bells Ringing At Once\u2019 as this track once again strays a little too close to the dour sound of latter-day U2, but that aside \u2018Somebody\u2019s Knocking\u2019 is a huge celebration of positivity and is certainly the crooner\u2019s most upbeat record to date.
\nThey say good things come to those who wait, well the 2 weeks it took a certain internet shopping giant to get me a copy of \u2018Somebody\u2019s Knocking\u2019 made it sound all the more sweeter when I did get to hear it, and whilst it doesn\u2019t really sound like Erasure covers sung by Lee Marvin for anyone left feeling disappointed with Iggy Pop\u2019s recent \u2018Free\u2019 album this is the near-perfect antidote to that record.
\nGreat stuff!<\/p>\n

buy ‘Somebody’s Knocking’ Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n