Takes a certain amount of chutzpah to name your first release in three-plus years Think Tank (Virgin). But Damon Albarn and the rest of the boys in Blur (minus snappy guitarman Graham Coxon, unfortunately) have always happily traded in a certain amount of disaffected popguy arrogance. So - ignoring the likelihood of a thousand rock critics seizing on the quip-filled potential of its title - the boys've released Think, anyway. Me, I'm happy enough to have 'em back, so I'm gonna resist the obvious one-liners.
Advanced word on this album has been mixed, so let's get this out of the way first. There are no instantaneous tickle-yer-ears pop tracks on this disc: no "Tender" (never thought I'd be won over by a cut blending George Harrison with Webber/Rice, but somehow these guys did it!); no "Girls and Boys" (best post-new wave new wave song ever!); no "Song 2" (if only today's current pop-punkers could sound half as joyful!); no "Parklife" (greatest song Ian Dury never wrote). Tone of the new release is largely subdued - more like flagging Bowie or theatrical era Ray Davies - so muted that it largely trails off by the final tracks.
Those fans who've followed lead singer/songwriter Albarn into side projects like Gorillaz will probably be more satisfied with this disc than us more pop-addled Blur-istes. Think Tank has some of the same druggy danceclub moves, particularly in its second half (though, again, nothing as immediately grabbing as "Clint Eastwood"): lots of dub and electronica fx, third world guitar riffing, with a measure of tribal jazziness added to the sound. When the elements come together ("Crazy Beat," with its wiggy Fatboy Slim mixed dancebeat, or "Brothers and Sisters"), it's energizing. Unfortunately, too many tracks just lie there gasping for air.
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