Comprising members of The Unicorns, Man Man and Modest Mouse, the only thing Mister Heavenly’s album Out of Love has in common with the White Album is the raw ’60s attitude on tracks such as I Am A Hologram, and a prevailing pop sensibility of an ideal type that you could conveniently trace back to The Beatles with enough inspiration.
Heavily inspired by 60s r’n’b and its various strands, Out of Love is an eclectic album, ignoring the temptation to follow a pre-determined path; and that deviant pattern is both the album’s best and most frustrating attribute. Bronx Sniper is a thumping dirty pop track with a distant nod to Jim Morrison’s fatalistic lyrical tendencie; Charlyne is ’60s doo-wop of Shangri-Las variety with sniff of early ’90s LA post-grunge. You can dance your caressing hips into eternity with Harm You, Reggae Pie is the lumpy reggae track you might be anticipating, and Doom Wop plants Ziggy in Hitsville USA and stands back to watch the carnage.
If predictability is the bedrock of boredom, then Out of Love is destined for perennial fascination. Listen to this record 100 times, and you still haven’t hit the heart of what’s going on.
Key Track: Doom Wop
If You Like This, You’ll Like: The Shangri-Las, Greg Cartwright
In A Word: Unpredictable
