Dave Simpson 

Eugene McGuinness: Chroma review – trippy and engaging but inconsistent

McGuiness clearly knows his way around psychedelic pop, with lyrics that are self-effacing and cocky at the same time, writes Dave Simpson
  
  

Eugene McGuinness
'Nods to postpunk and 60s British pop' … Eugene McGuinness Photograph: pr

As Miles Kane and Alex Turner's Last Shadow Puppets demonstrated, there's still plenty of mileage in gently psychedelic pop. This is Eugene McGuinness's fourth album, and he knows his way around a tune, combining spiky guitars and lysergic choruses with nods to postpunk and 60s British pop. His wordplay straddles cocksure confidence and cheeky self-effacement. "In the chaos of my relations, I get ideas above my station," he sings on opener Godiva, which mangles the Beatles' Day Tripper riff into effervescent new shapes. Amazing Grace finds him leading a conquest by the arm back to her flat, only for the inevitable disappointment. It's an engaging stew, and avoids pastiche. I Drink Your Milkshake pulls off the old Talking Heads trick of blending a jerkily rhythmic verse and sublime melodic chorus, and All in All is simply lovely. The rest of the album isn't always this good, so perhaps only inconsistency is holding back his rise to pop's higher league.

 

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