Review: Comet Gain – Howl of the Lonely Crowd
Comet Gain – Howl of the Lonely Crowd (2011) [Fortuna Pop!/What's Your Rupture?] // Grade: B
You can always count on Comet Gain. Seriously, if there were a Most Dependable Band On Earth prize, they’d totally win it; even after nearly 20 years, the Brit-pop powerhouse is still churning out album after album of jangly, catchy, characteristically verbose tracks. And they never really falter. You may love City Fallen Leaves better than Howl of the Lonely Crowd (and Broken Record Prayers better than that), but it’s only by a margin.
And like ‘em or not, that’s no easy feat. It may be tough to sustain such smooth and steady songwriting over two decades, but it’s even tougher to sound so stoked about the process. Even if you treasure it with every bone in your body, every synapse in your brain, most artists (especially after enduring a whole bevy of line-up changes) are bound to come off a little weary. But Howl of the Lonely Crowd feels nearly as fresh-faced as the band’s earliest records, just as exuberant as Magnetic Poetry, as wide-eyed and wondrous as Realistes. You can credit some of that to Edwyn Collins’ presence behind the board — I mean, my god, who wouldn’t be stoked to work with him? Orange Juice! Orange Juice! — but the excitement’s also ingrained in the fiber of Comet Gain’s being. They love this shit, man, and it’s contagious.
But be prepared: Howl of the Lonely Crowd is best in its first half. Tracks like “Clang of the Concrete Swans” and the power-pop “The Weekend Dreams” and “An Arcade from the Warm Rain That Falls” run circles around much of the album, with only closers “In a Lonely Place” and “Ballad for Frankie Machine” daring touch them. Still, don’t discredit mid-album creepers like “After Midnight, It’s Gone All Wrong;” these slow jams may feel skippable at first listen, but they’ll get better with each subsequent spin. Because, remember, Comet Gain are nothing if not consistent; even the slower-to-love tracks get at you eventually.
