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HEAR IT: "Suicide Drive" The Seahorses
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the seahorses_____
BY NATASHA STOVALL | Nimble-fingered Manchester gentleman guitarist John Squire left his last outfit, the Stone Roses, in the dust a few years ago arguing irreconcilable artistic differences. He now presents the Seahorses, a passel of English blokes as dedicated to the revival of opulent '60s Brit-pop as the Roses -- or Mike Meyers, for that matter -- ever were. The York foursome rev up jangly guitars and fat choral vocals like Vespa scooters and shake their groove thangs like mop tops. All that's missing is a shimmying babe in white go-gos (Elizabeth Hurley, perhaps?). Their debut, "Do It Yourself," is charming, like the dandy get-ups London boys wore in those Day-Glo days -- highly ornate, beautifully psychedelic, taken very seriously but, in the final evaluation, somewhat silly. Along with bassist Stuart Fletcher, drummer Andy Watts and singer Chris Helme, Squire tears into each song with a sincerity unheard of in an era when irony is king, but the music's personality as a fey Swinging London relic undermines the band at every turn. Thus, it's best to hear "Do It Yourself" as a playful, time-traveling romp -- even as the Horses get depressed and morbid, suggesting unhappy plans of action like "run the exhaust back inside/Close the window and take a ride." That song, "Suicide Drive," is one of "Do It Yourself's" finest, scaling the heights of hummabilty and showing off Squire's super-tight licks 'n' riffs as well as the fact that he can inject a few bars of low-fi reggae into a bubbalicious pop song. Helme's strained pipes are perfect; from his yearning boy-voice alone one can easily place him in the beautifully pained rock star (Jarvis/Noel/Liam/Paul/George/John) pantheon. Other standouts are "Love is the Law" (for Fletcher and Watts' buttery groove), "1999" (for Squire's slide guitar and Helme's delicious sleaze) and "Happiness is Egg Shaped" (for the shameless googly-eyed-ness of it). "Do It" only goes off track when the horses lose their sense of pleasure, when Squire and Co. stop bopping and detour into power ballad land, like on the soddenly sentimental "Boy in the Picture." But why can't the Seahorses pull off heavy emotions, while Oasis, tilling the same pop anthem dirt, give out longing and devastation like candy? Even when the Horses address pain and angst, it's somehow not credible. Appearing as it does that the melodies on "(What's the Story) Morninglory" and "Do it Yourself" have equal potentials of post-Beatles beauty and infectiousness, it must have something to do with the Gallaghers' natural, Bacharachian ability to put all of themselves into a single line, where John Squire, given a whole song, cannot do the same. What he's put onto "Do it Yourself," however, is plenty. He's filled a
record with enough under-the-skin melodies and clever couplets to last
a summer and, really, what more can a tired pop fan ask? Every song
can't be "Walk on By." And why should it be? We all just want a
soundtrack to party to, relax to, make love to, create to, and "Do it
Yourself" does the trick solidly. Besides that, we need our Swinging
London historians. Just ask Mike Meyers.
Natasha Stovall is a music writer whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Village Voice and the New York Times. |
