I was aware that Durutti Column were a Manchester band at the time, but paid them little attention, and didn't really hear anything by them or their leader and only constant Vini Reilly until he played guitar and arranged on Morrissey's debut solo album, Viva Hate.
On hearing Durutti Column, I was surprised, not expecting the gentle guitar and minimalist themes that Vini Reilly conjures up.
LC is the band's second album and I really don't remember acquiring it, nor having listened to it before ( I did recognise a lot I heard), so much is unfamiliar. Sketch For Dawn 1 is trademark Durutti Column, a thumping staccato beat, sparse guitar and Reilly's gentle vocals well down in the mix, and it's lovely. Portrait For Frazer is similar, but instrumental, as is Jacqueline, a lovely tune gently flowing from Reilly's guitar. Messidor is less interesting and Sketch For Dawn 2 is pedestrian, Reilly's understated vocals not adding much to an ordinary piano melody.
Never Known is an ethereal guitar piece, with gentle vocals, and when it comes to The Act Committed, I'm thinking "I've already heard this". And, for me, that's Durutti Column's difficulty. Lovely guitar pieces, but without sufficient variety to differentiate and individualise those pieces. That is until the fantastic The Missing Boy, which bounces out from its more minimalist companion pieces and wakes this album out of its gentle niceness, before quietly leaving us with Sweet Cheat Gone.
It's been a good listen to some lovely guitar work, but not a great one. Reilly's vocals too often sound apologetic and embarrassed to be there and mixed too low, while too much sounds similar.
3* - Durutti Column's guitar led tunes are enchanting, but not enough on their own to carry this album
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