Review: The Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes by Split Enz (Mushroom Records, 2006)
Despite the fact that the Rootin Tootin' Luton Tapes (I hate the title) were rejects by the band in this fertile period, I think that it is one of their best albums. Many references have been made tothe album's "edge" and "energy". It seems that on many of the songs, members of the band did not really know them that well and were flying by the seat of their pants or "blagging it" as Nigel Griggs put it.
It's that spirit that gives the songs their edge and it's hard indeed to replicate that in a big fancy studio where a band must be cognizant of time and money.
It all brings to mind Bob Dylan: Bob has been recording records and playing shows with backing bands who have no idea what song he's going to play or what key or tempo it will be in for decades in an attempt to capture this edge, and as we see from his career, sometimes it works spectactularly, sometimes it doesn't. Here it works.
To me the RTLT represent some of the greatest moments that Split Enz put on record and it's their most daring and most post-punk record. It's the fusion of pop traditionalist songs to New Wave energy that makes this work for me. As a collection of songs, it's probably not as strong as a few of their others -- both Frenzy, which is a sort of companion record and Time and Tide spring to mind; and the gleaming day-glo sound of Dizrhythmia has been left behind for this record, recorded nearly live in a tiny studio.
I think the album is a little long and some of the Neil Finn songs stick out a little bit -- which is not to say they are bad, but they sound like an entirely different band, which is fascinating. But at the same time, I'm at a loss as to which songs I would cut: the Neil Finn songs are different, but too good to cut; weaker songs like "Miss Haps" serve a clear purpose in the flow of the album -- which, by the way, I think is very well-sequenced.
Overall I come away thinking that Frenzy should have been a double album. The RTLTs are, the darkly frenetic, nervous id to Frenzy's bright energetic ego.
I'll give this album, made at a time when the band was penniless and getting desperate, a 4.3/5. Never again would they sound so voraciously hungry.
It's that spirit that gives the songs their edge and it's hard indeed to replicate that in a big fancy studio where a band must be cognizant of time and money.
It all brings to mind Bob Dylan: Bob has been recording records and playing shows with backing bands who have no idea what song he's going to play or what key or tempo it will be in for decades in an attempt to capture this edge, and as we see from his career, sometimes it works spectactularly, sometimes it doesn't. Here it works.
To me the RTLT represent some of the greatest moments that Split Enz put on record and it's their most daring and most post-punk record. It's the fusion of pop traditionalist songs to New Wave energy that makes this work for me. As a collection of songs, it's probably not as strong as a few of their others -- both Frenzy, which is a sort of companion record and Time and Tide spring to mind; and the gleaming day-glo sound of Dizrhythmia has been left behind for this record, recorded nearly live in a tiny studio.
I think the album is a little long and some of the Neil Finn songs stick out a little bit -- which is not to say they are bad, but they sound like an entirely different band, which is fascinating. But at the same time, I'm at a loss as to which songs I would cut: the Neil Finn songs are different, but too good to cut; weaker songs like "Miss Haps" serve a clear purpose in the flow of the album -- which, by the way, I think is very well-sequenced.
Overall I come away thinking that Frenzy should have been a double album. The RTLTs are, the darkly frenetic, nervous id to Frenzy's bright energetic ego.
I'll give this album, made at a time when the band was penniless and getting desperate, a 4.3/5. Never again would they sound so voraciously hungry.
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