Right, it’s fast becoming apparent that nobody has read the script round here. When GRAHAM COXON left Blur we were all ready to write the obituaries for both careers. Blur would release a half-baked album that sounded like the Gorrilaz and would be led by the ‘whitest black man in West London’ (TM Alex James). Meanwhile Graham Coxon would slowly disappear up his lo-fi arse.
‘Think Tank’ was the first spanner in the works for this theory. The best Blur album for years it was eclectic, thoughtful, thrilling and nothing like the Gorillaz. Now, Graham Coxons’ first single since the split is a prime piece of punk pop that pisses all over his earlier solo work. How did that happen then?
From the opening riff, which sounds incredibly similar to The Skids ‘Into the Valley’, to the final lines ‘Nothing to prove / nothing to say / la la la la la la le’ (great line!) this is a huge two fingers to all the doubters out there. Coxon has binned all that lo-fi noodling he was drowning under and has started writing proper pop tunes again. And not before time because when he puts his mind to it, as he has proved with Blur many times’, there are few better songwriters working today.
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Everything about this record is fantastic, from the several riffs it uses, to it’s mad arse guitar solos, to the lyrics, nothing is surplus to requirements. At one point he sings ‘Put on your aviator shades / Yeah man you’re looking really ace’. When was the last time anyone used the word ‘ace’ in a song? And got away with it? Genius!
In hindsight it would appear that Graham Coxon leaving Blur was the best thing to happen for all concerned. It's a strange world we live in sometimes.
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