Anton Barbeau has recorded with members of XTC, The Egyptians (as in Robyn Hitchcock and the...), and loads of other great names alt-rock names. He's an impressive composer, and a performer who only rarely gets lost in his own cleverness. His newest album, Berliner Grotesk, is part of a trilogy, but don't let that prevent you from coming in on this one on its own terms, because, really this record contains some of Anton's best, loveliest compositions, and ones which really do see him earn his place to be name-checked next to the kind of artists he's worked with previously.
At times here on Berlinker Grotesk, Barbeau tries his hand at material that sounds like a pastiche of showtunes and art-rock, like on the title-track and "I Been to Bromley", but on other cuts his approach is more direct and affecting. "Baby Can You" is catchy and charming, like something Todd Rundgren tried to write over and over again in the Eighties, while "Horns" is some odd mix of the kind of material that both Nilsson and John Lennon pursued in the Seventies. The obvious affection Anton displays here on this number and others for the former Beatle's work is at odds with the rather misguided cover of "Love Me Do" that somehow earned a place on Berliner Grotesk. Never my favorite song from the Fab Four, I suppose Barbeau gets points for at least trying something like this. Still, the best song on Berliner Grotesk was for me "dontforgettogetyourfingerwet", a number where Anton sounds a whole lot like Phil Keaggy on that Sundays' Child album, which is to say he sounds remarkably similar to an Eighties artist who took their cues for how to do power-pop from old Beatles records. And I can't think of a better compliment to offer than that.
Berliner Grotesk is out now via Pink Hedgehog, or via the link below.
More details on Anton Barbeau via his official website.
[Photo: Karen Eng]