Mark Morriss - Memory Muscle

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 7 / 6 / 2008

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It’s one of those curious habits of music critics that if a band has never had a hit record, they can be treated like a legend, but if they have had one or two, they can expect to be entirely dismissed for daring to hang around afterwards. The Bluetones seem to be one of those bands cursed solely on the grounds that they can bring their live set to a close with a top ten single from a number one album. It is depressing how many good musicians from my teenage years now seem to have vanished entirely from sight, while - as the Kooks and the Pigeon Detectives have thrillingly discovered - pop stardom remains a career path open to those without any talent at all. But, luckily, the Bluetones have yet to cave in. They have kept making albums, and boast an impressive live show and a resilient fanbase. They are promoting their second greatest hits album as I write this, but I suggest you dip into their studio albums, particularly 1998‘s ‘Return To The Last Chance Saloon’, which may not have impressed 'Melody Maker' a decade ago, but has aged very well, and contains their best song, ‘Sky Will Fall’. Meanwhile, since 2004, the band’s singer has been popping up at open-mic nights around London, testing out the songs which now make up his largely acoustic first solo album. It isn’t the traditionally vanity side-project, but a charmingly low-key set of nine three-minute pop songs, plus two covers of Teenage Fanclub and Lee Hazlewood songs. There were lots of bands that seemed to be able to write great pop songs at will during the Brit Pop era, but Mark Morriss still can. ‘Digging A Hole’ probably sounds more like Supergrass than his own band, while ‘Lemon and Lime’ is a bit like one of the understated moments that lit up the mid-period Blur albums (think ‘Blue Jeans’ from 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' or ‘Clover Over Dover’ from 'Parklife'). Perhaps the album’s most surprising feature is the involvement of David Arnold, the Oscar winning composer. The pair met on the set of 'Little Britain' (one of Morris’ two notable comedy cameos, though I have to say that his scene in 'Spaced', where Robot Wars met Fight Club, was much the funnier). But the big name does not overshadow Morriss, who has adequately shown why he keeps making music. I wouldn’t expect a Brit nomination, but this is a beaut.

Track Listing:-

1 How Maggie Got Her Bounce Back
2 I'm Sick
3 So It Goes
4 Buckle Up, Baby Doll
5 Alcoholiday
6 Digging A Hole
7 Lemon & Lime
8 Unwanted Friend
9 Bienvenido
10 Lay Low
11 My Autumn's Done Come

Label Links:-

http://www.umusic.co.uk/
http://www.universalmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/UniversalMusicGroup
https://twitter.com/umg

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