MCLUSKY
I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley (Ipecac)
Mclusky albums are like buses. You wait ages (more than two decades), and then two come along almost at once. Plus they’re largely electric, stop and start unexpectedly, and are likely to leave you feeling grubby and misanthropic.
In truth, I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley is more a minibus than a bus – an uneven six-track stopgap release put out to promote a US tour. But the album does boast I Know Computer, its killer bassline no doubt the reason it’s Damien Sayell’s favourite, and the clipped robo-rock of Hi! We’re On Strike.
Plus Andrew Falkous – when he’s not declaring things like “My wife says I am in Body Count / I am not / I don’t know how she got that idea” – remains a dispenser of impeccably warped wisdom. “Give blood / Then take it back”? This EP might be a surprise gift, but there are clearly limits to his generosity.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
