St. Jude

[Darren]

St. Jude
Review

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1 Review by the Panel

A Retrospective Review By Luke Beardsworth

Every Courteeners fan pretty much knew what to expect when this album came out. We knew that Cavorting and Fallowfield Hillbilly would make us want to see them live again and we knew that Please Dont and Yesterday Today would make us want to learn to play guitar to sing and strum along to the tunes. Saying that it doesnt mean the album cant be criticised, How Come could have been replaced by numerous superior b-sides, as could If It Wasnt For Me, and it would perhaps have been a stronger album. And there is also a sense of overproduction on the album and it makes me think that Stephen Street was probably not the right choice. While he may have controlled Babyshambles second effort into something abit more listenable and accessible than their first, with The Courteeners it is possible that he took away some of the rawness and simplicity of the tunes which makes them what they are. All of this however, does not change that the tunes are still brilliant. Aftershow is a perfect opener both on the album and live, and Yesterday Today closes out the album beautifully. If I had the choice I would have made Acrylic a main track and I would have included Kimberley to go arm in arm with the opener.

The final word, especially after hearing the newer stuff such as Sycophant and More than a Weekend Away, is that this album does not do the Courteeners justice. It is promising, and still the best example of this pretty stagnant genre done very well. But I think it is clear to all that there is alot more to come from The Courteeners. Roll on 2010 and album number 2.