The Beautiful South Album: “Choke”

Borrowed the album off a friend. I thought one or two tunes hit the spot but with successive playings the whole album took on a mesmerising effect. I've since played the grooves off and bought all their other CDs on speculation. The lyrics are mischievious, funny, delinquent and at times surreal. I've been spreading the good word about the CD and now most visitors to my place know who they're going to hear a lot of. By the way after several weeks I finally returned the CD and bought my own. Probably my favourite CD of the last four years. My recommendation is try it, persevere with it and buy it. You'll like it! 'Quench' also approaches this CD for quality but falls slightly short in lyrical deviousness.

This British group's bright and clear pop sound complements their sharp and acidic lyrics surprisingly well. The best example is the disturbingly upbeat and cheery backing to 'Should've Kept My Eyes Shut' which gives a grim glimpse of domestic violence.

The album opens with the sweeping sound in 'Tonight I Fancy Myself', which refers to, among other things, lost legs and a "partly severed head". 'A Little Time', the beautifully simple single with an intriguing film clip, should become a classic tale of lover versus lover. Dave Hemingway and Briana Corrigan make it more of a duel than a duet.

Again, sounding like we're about to hear a happy Madness or Style Council-esque tune, Hemingway sings of "ugly babies" and admits to failure in 'Book'.

This contrast is used almost throughout and works well right to the final track, 'I Hate You Tonight (But You're Interesting)'.

Housemartins Paul Heaton and Hemingway launched The Beautiful South in 1989 and this is the outfit's second album. Second albums are notoriously disappointing. Not this one.

If I believed that this is the music that was in the hearts of its creators; that is to say when they picked up a guitar or sat at the piano and this was a true expression of their soul I'd diagnose them insane. I use the term according to Webster. The insanity of resentment dripping from every offering on this record has provided me with a compelling account of dysfunction for the past 17 years regardless of my level of emotional maturity.

mean of me to give this three stars, but I think it's what Paul Heaton would have wanted, perverse curmudgeon that he is.

It's possibly their best album too - before the bitter (and often violent) lyrics entirely overwhelmed the honey-soaked tunes, alienating his co-singer Biana Corrigan and losing a large part of the charm of the group. The highlights are superb (utterly British) soulful pop songs, heartfelt, heartbroken and wry - A Little Time and, most of all, Let Love Speak Up Itself. However, you can get these gems on the best of, as did the majority of the British record buying public.

There's obvious filler material that drags down the level of the album, (I've Come for my Award), but it's something about the black heart of this album that makes listening to it less aural joy, more Joy Division. Maybe that's no bad thing.