Blur - Parklife

After many decades of rock, there's an equation that still holds true--there's only twelve major chords to choose from. And if you listened to the British rock press, you'd think that they invented them. Wedged in between retro and revisionist sits Blur. Wearing the hat of a Ray Davies-type sociologist, Blur's Damon Albarn weaves tales of modern London laced with the suspicion that indeed, the empire HAS ended. Albarn's fascination with urban decay was apparent on Modern Life Is Rubbish, but with the followup Parklife, Blur embraces the modern. During the instrumentals, Parklife plays like a surreal game show. Layering the aesthetic of the 1980s film "Brazil" with the Kinks' "David Watts," Blur is quite possibly the new British hope. While Blur emerged from the same fertile, neo-glam soil as Suede (Albarn's girlfriend, Justine of Elastica, used to be Suede's rhythm guitarist), Blur is the king among the new British glams. The disco rhythms and keyboards in "Girls & Boys" highlight Albarn's cutesy look at romance in the 1990s. A climate where everyone is "looking for girls who want boys who like/Boys to be girls who do/Boys like their girls who do/Girls like their boys." Laments Albarn, "Oh I should be someone you really love." If it's solid pop songs with a bite you're craving, you'll love Parklife. (RS)