Search - Stretford :: Long Distance

AUSTIN CHRONICLE Review

Carl Sephton | Texas | 02/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the three-plus years since Stretford released "Crossing the Line", group leader Carl Normal has grown even more convincing in his role as the reluctant romantic who can't help but shrug and chuckle at the heartfelt foolishness of human nature. And once all the drama of a love gone wrong dies down, is there really any better choice than looking back sardonically? "Long Distance" finds the longtime Austin septet putting these contradictory emotions to the tune of Sham 69-style punk anthems tempered by thrift store horn charts that hearken back to the days of British music-hall entertainment. This unique musical blend vibrates with lager-soaked empathy in a live setting, but it takes a studio to capture Stretford's rich songwriting prowess. "How Did It Come to This?" addresses the classic unequal relationship with wry lyrics like, "I thought about you all day in case you'd like to know, but I'm not going to tell you because you might laugh in my face, and you'd have every right to." Perhaps the best song on Long Distance is "Suicide," which starts with a lonely breakneck guitar before slowly building to a reaffirming crescendo in which Normal asserts, "Losing love does not mean suicide." Such sentiments lend "Long Distance" the air of a surrogate buddy who picks you up out of the gutter right before the cops arrest you for public intoxication. We can all use friends like that.--Greg Beets"