Search - Always :: Thames Valley Leather Club and Other Stories

The Wright Stuff

Paul Ess. | Holywell, N.Wales,UK. | 04/24/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Courageously operating on the borders, Always - along with Klaxon 5 - were probably the best of the 'el!' groups, and certainly the most representative and recognisable of the rock orthodoxy - whatever the implications of that are.

Always are always Richard Wright, who looks like a young, un-fat Steve MacDonald. He's a neat, un-savage man; far removed from the vagaries of the world-of-rock apes, and cheerfully peddling his particular, darting innuendo with so much feint and mirth.



Contradiction? Wright has some great songs: how fantastic it is to hear 'Amateur Detection' again. I can only pray you get some sense of it: delicate, ironic, slight... A list ineffective; you need to feel that aching bass-line; taste those sparse strings; drown in those florid lyrics...

But 'TVLC' isn't a one-trick pony, it brims with ideas and decadent creativity. With fingertip control, Wright picks his way through stormers (ok, quiet stormers!), cheeky ballads, nippy pop, weaving instrumentals, jazz...

He's bloody heroic!



The mid to late 80's became all a-quiver with loud, mountainous rock, which has pretty much continued until today. The brilliance of post-punk could never last because in general, rock musicians are inordinately thick and idle; meaning crass lyrics, mosh-pit diving, and staunch fist-clenching are a lot easier to achieve than worth, stately-ness, and originality. In other words; you would never have seen Always being pompous and idiotic at Glastonbury or any other music crematorium. Too dignified ..too much up top. Too much The Monocled Mutineer.



'TVLC' isn't even as aggressive as my writing; it isn't obstinate or unbridled, it doesn't care the world is at Reading --- Richard Wright is at home, with his hot-water bottle and Horlicks, getting ready for the umpteenth viewing of 'Brideshead Revisited'.

Wright is distant Olivier to today's cave-man Jim Carrey; adroit Kenneth Williams to intimidating Frankie Boyle...

It's about degrees.. Always is."