The new record from Bobby Conn, Recovery, drops on Tapete on Friday. The album is the sort of thing that sounds like what Jarvis Cocker would have recorded had he grown up in American suburbia, hated it, and absorbed every bit of the synth-pop he heard blaring out of radios in the Eighties.
While the title cut here is sinister, and slinky in the right ways, the brighter "Disposable Future" is far better. This one has a real bit of bass-slap about it, and a vibe that suggests a cool kid defending Duran Duran and trying to do the exact same kind of music. Elsewhere, "Bijou" and "Disaster" reminded me a whole lot of a British band called David Devant and His Spirit Wife. And David Bowie. But, for all that, "It's a Young Man's Game" superbly apes the kind of thing Iggy Pop was doing in his New Values phase. Bobby Conn manages to imbue this stuff with a lot of heart, and a good deal of apparent ironic affectation. it's a heady mix, to be sure, but one which he has the right touch for. I only wish that Recovery had more songs like "No Grownups" on it, or another number as absolutely beautiful as closer "Always Already", a real masterpiece.
Recovery is out tomorrow via Tapete Records.
More details on Bobby Conn via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Chris Nightengale]