Gene - To see the lights

I hadn't planned on making this the 4th consecutive post with a black and white photo, but fuck it, I'm gonna review this Gene album anyway. To see the lights is almost a non-release, put out after their debut album "Olympian". This one is a collection of B sides, live versions, radio 1 sessions, and alternate takes, and is sometimes credited as being Gene's "Hatful of hollow". I don't know how I feel about that comparison, simply because Gene spent their entire career being compared to the Smiths. While singer Martin Rossiter has a croony edge to his voice much like Moz, as well as a healthy dose of lyrical snark, Gene stand on their own. Guitarist Steve Mason channels a lot less Johnny Marr than he does Steve Cropper in his playing. And what playing it is! The album opens up with "Be my light, be my guide", a brit-rock guitar fiasco of the finest kind. It moves on to "Sick, sober and sorry", again chock-full of tasty guitar bits and praise for drinking and smoking too. The album slows a bit after this and some ballady stuff comes out, which isn't really my cup of tea, but is pretty well done for ballady stuff, so I'll forgive it. Other highlights are "For the dead", "Haunted by you", and "How much for love", a tale of a young man being scandalized by an aggressive hussy. "Child's body", a song about anorexia, manages not to be too sappy lyrically, and the guitar playing just fucking rules. "I can't help myself" is totally cheesy, but does such a good job of being corny in just the right places that you end up liking it a lot anyway. The cover they do of the Beatles' "Don't let me down" is pretty blah, but between the bridge and chorus, Rossiter makes the strangest puking sound and improves things a lot. There are a few tracks I generally skip, but I'd hesitate in calling those sub-par in an album like this, since it's pretty much odds and ends thrown together for the fans to enjoy anyway. If I could take one Gene album to the proverbial desert Island with me, this would be the one. A good solid B for Gene.