Pop: This Week's Album Releases - Gene Revelations (Polydor)

Andy Gill
Thursday 25 February 1999 20:02 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

ON GENE'S fourth album, the self-pitying swoons no longer dominate, as they did when the band trod too reverently in The Smiths' footsteps. Instead, Martin Rossiter and co have discovered political commitment, just as the New Labour administration appear to have lost theirs.

With sentiments such as "The greedy live off you and me/ This is the code, we can't break history" and "Strike first, the rich must be deprived", Revelations is probably the most overtly Marxist album released in the past four or five years - though the music is, sadly, rather less revolutionary, sticking firmly to the band's narrow indie purview. Still, tracks such as "As Good as it Gets" and "Mayday" accurately evoke the sullen disillusion of a land betrayed "when red became blue".

Gene's is a more positive move than most of their peers have managed in the face of indie decline, though the new "hard man" Rossiter, as evidenced on the last tracks ("The Police will Never find You" and "You'll Never Walk Again"), is less convincing. All that nonsense about Stanley knives just sounds so Morrissey, to be honest.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in