NEW ALBUMS
THE NATVRAL
Tethers KANINE 8/10
Hero worship triggers self-discovery on alt.popveteran’s solo turn
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s surprising 2018 swansong was a limited-edition replication of Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever, and as The Natvral, ex-frontman Kip Berman celebrates another hero, transforming himself into Blonde On Blonde-era Dylan. This spot-on homage has allowed Berman to inhabit a more vital version of himself, bringing immediacy to the rousing retro rave-ups “Why Don’t You Come Out Anymore?”, “New Year’s Night” and “Sylvia, The Cup Of Youth” with his tonsil-shredding howls and staccato guitar-chord clangour amid beefy organ churn. On “Sun Blisters”, Berman takes his shapeshifting to a giddily glorious extreme – his inspired appropriation of Mott’s Ian Hunter appropriating the Bard puts an exclamation point on an improbable, irresistible act of selfreinvention.