Austinist Album Reviews: Graham Coxon and The Datsuns

Believe it or not, Love Travels At Illegal Speeds is former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon’s sixth solo record. His third since leaving the band, LTAIS boasts crunching guitar hooks and sparkling pop-rock along with a plethora of downtrodden, forlorn ballads. As the title of the album suggests, Coxon tackles the fluctuating fortunes of love and the struggles of being smitten. Lyrics like "When I saw you / my life turned so beautiful / I never met no one like you before” in “Tell It Like It Is” lead to “You came into my life and then you disappear / And when I reach out ‘cause I want to hold you near / There’s nobody here” later in the song, seemingly summing up the gist of Coxon’s laments.

The poppy “What’s He Got” features more unrequited grief (despite its upbeat tempo), while the organ-fueled “You Always Let Me Down” takes a turn towards bitter anger. Blur-like Brit-pop, as in lead single “Standing On My Own Again”, along with Sex Pistols-esque punk (“Gimme Some Love”) keep the album from simply transpiring into a slow, depressive mire. Coxon does take it down a few notches on numerous tracks on the record, however. The mellow “Just A State of Mind” starts off with more despairing lyrics like “Emptiness I’ve found you / How bleak you are” while “Flights In The Sea” nixes guitar rock for a soft sprawl of piano and sax. “Don’t Believe Anything I Say” is a quiet ode to self-deprecating everyday malaise while album closer “See A Better Day” fittingly features refrains of “I’m falling deeper every day” and similar declarations of devotion. All in all, we find it hard to shy away from Coxon’s roller coaster emotions, and after a good few listens, we definitely feel his pain.

Graham Coxon: [official site] [myspace]

Hailing from New Zealand, and falling somewhere between glam rock revivalists the Darkness and Aussie neighbors Wolfmother, The Datsuns have meddled in the garage-metal business for three albums now. The latest of those, Smoke & Mirrors, blasts out of the speakers with the appropriately titled “Why Are You Stamping Your Foot For?” and does not ease up on the rawk for a good half hour. The album specializes in abundant guitar licks and features swaggering rock anthems like “Maximum Heartbreak” and “Such A Pretty Curse”. However, lyrics like “too much smoke, too little fire” set to formulaic rock backdrops run their course by the end of the album. In their defense, the Datsuns seem oblivious to constant hype from NME and consistent snubs from Pitchfork, and depending on which side of the Atlantic your ears might lie, Smoke & Mirrors could be a shot of adrenalin or simply a redundant waste.

The Datsuns: [official site] [myspace]