It's a pretty awful name, and the cover art... well, that's pretty awful too. I mean, what does it say? I begin by thinking of the advert for Ryvita, with that bunch of horrible, horrible bitchy bunch of 'everyday' women who trough into their friend's soup. Ok, so they're supposedly ladies who crunch, but regardless, I'm stuck with the image of cackling middle management sows in trouser suits who really think they're something, playing out some kind of 'Sex and the City' lifestyle in anonymous office block in towns and cities across the country. And maybe they go to the gym or swimming together sometimes as a change from some trendy wine bar so they can mitigate the guilt they feel about their chunky thighs and cellulite-puckered behinds.
And if the title 'Landscapes and Personal Spaces' suggests some kind of expansive post-rock, think again: London-based four-piece Ladies Who Lunch are an alternative rock band. They purport to derive influence from 90s US alt-rock, with a bit of Neil Young, REM and Johnny Cash thrown in for good measure. So they sure like the sound of things Stateside, and it's reflected in the sound: truth is, you wouldn't peg them for a British band.
Perhaps on account of these factors, my initial response to 'Landscapes and Personal Spaces' wasn't entirely favourable. In fact, I was poised to pursue the line of 'alternative rock' being something of a catch-all, umbrella category that Ladies Who Lunch pushed rather too far. In fact, I was all set to unleash the line 'Alternative rock? Alternative to rock, more like.'
They don't help themselves by starting the album off with the rather wet and slightly raggedy folk stylings of 'Lucille': it really doesn't bode well, although repeat plays do prove its insistent guitar motif makes for a a song that's an unexpected grower.
Things do improve significantly, though, and fast, and what's more, giving the album another chance and room to breathe reveals qualities that aren't immediately apparent: there's the wrung-out 'Devil at my Door' which weaves a brittle, nagging guitar line through an indie-folk vocal melody, and 'Currents' has an angsty tension and sees singer Carle Rocca come on like Billy Corgan. He gets away with it because it's actually a decent tune. Elsewhere, 'Head in the sand' has a very Pavement feel to it, and if 'To the Side' is just workmanlike indie, US style, the incorporation of a guitar break learned at the school of J Mascis guitar solos certainly makes a difference.
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It's that mournful, off-kilter melodic feel that prevails throughout Dinosaur Jr's debut and parts of 'You're Living All Over Me' that drapes itself over the furniture of 'Landscapes and Personal Spaces' that ultimately wins me over. Those slackersome guitar noodles, the loose playing style, the awkward tensions and vocal style are all ingredients that contrive for an album that slowly unravels itself and reveals a real depth and quality. 'Lifeless Lives' standing as a proper proto-grunge-out, and if the closer 'Sudden Morning' feels a bit throwaway, well, I'm willing to let it ride, because with repeat plays, 'Landscapes and Personal Spaces' slowly but surely begins to tug at the heartstrings. It's not an album that grabs on in an instant, but one that gets better with every listen.
Ladies Who Lunch Online
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