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Weightlifting
11/05/2004 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Ken Micallef
Thought to be long lost but never forgotten, Irvine, Scotland’s Trash Can Sinatras have returned after a terribly long absence, creating a glory call to arms for thousands of fans the world over. Releasing a scant three albums since 1993 (I’ve Seen Everything, Cake, Happy Pocket) Trash Can Sinatras produced the kind of heartfelt but whimsical pop that could flash sunshine through a rainy day and create bliss even in a subway car full of depressed New Yorkers. Weightlifting is stellar TCS, expressing everything great about the band from Paul Livingston and John Douglas’s shimmering, cyclical guitars and honeyed melodies to Francis Reader’s lilting vocals. Beyond songs that suspend time, TCS music has a sense of ebb and flow and a rolling, sensuous pace that is nearly impossible to find in this era of Pro Tools production and Autotune manipulation. And with no one much bothering with pure, melancholic pop these days, TCS have the field to themselves.
“Trouble Sleeping” floats on a bed of strummed guitar, organ, harmonica and echoing vocals, a classic ode to long drives on starlight summer nights. A glissando of bells and strings ushers in “All The Dark Horses,” a perfect song, plain and simple. Galloping over brisk finger-plucked guitars and cresting vocals, the song is unforgettable and impassioned, the lyrics resurrecting a lost love with a feeling of joy that is tangible. Though largely sweet and sad, songs like “Welcome Back” show that Weightlifting is not entirely soft, the song’s rollicking beat and rave up guitars recalling the energy of TCS live shows. Title track “Weightlifting” closes the album with a plaintive melody and a dark beat that slowly rises to assure with its calm-inducing lyrics and hypnotic air.
Just when we need it, Trash Can Sinatras’ jewel-like jangle pop returns.
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