Hugh Cornwell
HI-FI
(KOCH)

If they hadn’t broken up in 1992, the original Stranglers would probably be huge today, since their early albums anticipated many of the past decade’s big trends: punk revival, misogynist metal, garage rock, and, on the later efforts, sinister pop with goth overtones. As it was, singer/guitarist/main writer Hugh Cornwell split nine years ago, leaving both sides to flounder: the Stranglers lumber on with a great sound and lousy songs whereas Cornwell’s got the songs and no band.

That at least makes Cornwell’s discs preferable to those of his old mates, and his third post-Stranglers release finds his writing chops intact. He sticks mainly with the later, goth-esque style ( " All the Colours of the Rainbow " sports one of his trademark, haunting choruses), with a few stabs of the old punk rock for good measure. The old Stranglers sexism, which was probably a put-on in the first place, resurfaces in " Miss TeazyWeezy, " but he shows a softer heart on the " Eleanor Rigby " –styled " Gingerbread Girl. "

The only problem is that the songs deserve more fleshing-out than they get here: working with later Stranglers producer Laurie Latham, Cornwell plays everything (including clumsy drum programs) on most songs. The result is a home-demo sound that contradicts the album’s title. Stranglers fans will definitely miss J.J. Burnel’s grumbling bass and Dave Greenfield’s Doorsy organ. Most successful are the two US bonus tracks, live solo-acoustic versions of two Stranglers hits ( " Golden Brown " and " Always the Sun " ) that bring out more nuances than the lush originals. The recording date isn’t given, but it could well be the Kendall Café show Cornwell played to a few dozen people last year.

Issue Date: August 30 - September 6, 2001