LIVE
LLOYD COLE
Barbican, London, January 25
Partial Commotions reunion becomes a broader celebration of a still-evolving songwriter
Cole: creating an atmosphere of bonhomie and confessional intimacy
HELEN MILLINGTON
A
S early as the second number of tonight’s marathon 28song set, Lloyd Cole is already trying out the analyst’s couch for size. “I used to wake up early, I used to try to believe”, he sings on “Don’t Look Back”, “but faith is never easy when you’re young”. The song’s title is a misnomer, a perhaps intentionally ironic nod to the ongoing ruminative self-examination that’s been a constant throughout Cole’s long career. This is a man who named his 2006 album Antidepressant, and whose most recent was called On Pain.
Down on Silk Street: Cole and guitarist Neil Clark at the Barbican
HELEN MILLINGTON
But for a sizeable section of the audience, tonight is all about looking back, an opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the singer’s calling card, Rattlesnakes. Its reputation as one of the most accomplished debuts ever not in question, it was the first of three albums Cole made with his band The Commotions, and the presence of two of their number onstage here (guitarist Neil Clark and keyboard player Blair Cowan) can’t help but fuel the nostalgia. The LP was identified by critics at the time as another compelling example of a twentysomething newcomer with a neat line in vividly literate angst – it came out the same week as Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, following on from The Smiths’ debut and Prefab Sprout’s Swoon earlier in 1984. And, in common with those fellow travellers, Lloyd’s navel-gazing is laced with dry humour.