I'm going to get burned at the stake by the indie kids for saying this but "Relative Poverty" is the catchiest thing Lawrence has ever composed. It's not Felt, we know, and not even Denim, but it's own special kind of self-aware pop. That tune is one of the highlights from Mozart Estate, the new band following Go-Kart Mozart, from their debut album, Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping on Cherry Red Records as of Friday.
When I interviewed Lawrence a few years ago a recurring theme of our discussion was the fact that he felt like he wasn't as appreciated as he should be, nor as famous. I mean, it's one thing to be something of a legend to the anorak pop set, but quite another to be a famous pop singer. I applaud Lawrence for being honest about his ambition, and I'm happy that this new album is wildly pop. I can't say that it's going to score him a bunch of Top 40 hits, but it's full of catchy, insistent selections. And, mind you, nothing here sounds like Felt.
"Poundland", "I'm Gonna Wiggle", and "Vanilla Gorilla" are infectious, silly blasts of energy, full of the kind of ideas that fueled many an early Seventies one-off hit on both sides of the Atlantic. "When the Harridans Came to Call" and "Honey" are more heartfelt, with languid melodies that drip with dreams of Big Pop. Lawrence is pouring himself into this, and the directness of the delivery creates a nice juxtaposition with the artifice employed elsewhere. The smarts of "Record Store Day" are fuzzy, the cut nearly like something Shampoo would have offered up a few decades ago. It's a knowing bit of business, given Lawrence's DIY credentials, as he seems almost to be gently mocking the collectors that come out of the woodwork every RSD to buy up the rare and the limited.
In his embrace of a different style and form, Lawrence is moving again into territory that should appeal to fans of his own Denim and Go-Kart Mozart, as well as possibly to fans of Luke Haines' recent solo efforts, and even The Magnetic Fields. There's a brevity here that is wonderful, with Lawrence wisely cramming his ideas into digestable packets of music. Each composition on Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping is self-contained, with a bunch of hooks tripping over each other in rapid succession. I can imagine that the demos of these tunes are just as vividly realized, with the chirps and bleeps of the finished products only further burnishing the sleek surface of the bright Pop on offer. Lawrence remains an amazingly adept songwriter, a witty lyricist, and, as the couple of ballads remind, still an emotive performer. I'm sure this record will disappoint a whole tranche of Felt fans of a certain ilk, and I think that might have been the idea all along. Regardless, this is a darn fun record, and I only wish it was longer.
Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping is out on Friday via Cherry Red Records.
[Photo: Uncredited Picture of Lawrence from Heavenly Films Facebook page]