I think with this one we're going to need to reckon with the fact that Liam's finally come into his own as both a songwriter and performer. A record that offers up a handful of tracks that could be his best performances put to tape to date, C'Mon You Know is a splendid thing. Cribs from Beatles and Stones aplenty, yes, but more cleverly used, more astutely updated for this century. At times, there's stuff here that hits the eardrums and seems to be a refinement of the old Oasis material, even better too. What it comes down to is that Liam, unlike his brother, doesn't seem too keen on aping Slade over and over again anymore.
"More Power", the elegant opener, is graceful and world-weary in a way we've never heard on a Liam track. It's a smashing tune, one which Liam wisely undersells, his voice nearly purring the words here. Similarly, on the big ballad "Too Good for Giving Up" he gives us a little of that ol' "Shiiineee"-sort of delivery, but more nuanced. At his best here, like on the title cut, we get the sort of thing the world shamefully ignored when Beady Eye dropped their second record. Seventies rawk elements, and white funk ones mash it up here, as the track builds around one of Liam's more intimate recent deliveries. Those two, along with the singles "Diamond in the Dark" and "Everything's Electric", benefit from production that feels smartly tailored to each composition. There was a sort of sameness to material on his first solo album, but here, on the third, Gallagher's smartly varying things up just enough to keep a listener engaged.
And while "Better Days" seems a better version of Noel's "Let Forever Be" Chemicals collab, it's closer "Oh Sweet Children" that astounds. No, really. A number that sounds like "Wah-Wah" slowed down, Liam lets the tune wash over him and around him. If this is producer Greg Kurstin's work, fine, but it's really down to how well Liam's voice guides this one and lets it guide him. It doesn't hurt that the hook is, like the one in opener "More Power" stately and borderline magnificent. I would have a loved a whole album just like this, which is to say that I loved Be by Beady Eye too. Liam's found a way to own that style here on this closer, and it signals some new, interesting directions he can pursue as a solo artist in the future. Of course, the other cuts that sound enough like Oasis here to please are good too, but this reviewer is sort of fixated on the moodier bits here, even after repeated plays.
C'Mon You Know is out now.
More details on Liam Gallagher via LiamGallagher.com.
[Photo: Greg Williams]