Gang Of Four – Content (Yep Rock)
Part of the problem when a band like Gang of Four releases a record as life changing as 1979’s Entertainment! is that everything that follows in its wake runs a greater risk of disappointment.
Keeping that in mind, it’s not hard to balance the time and distance between a new Gang of Four record and that acknowledged classic. In the three decades since, we’ve seen the band fall out of fashion somewhat, while giving birth to a few, easily identifiable youngsters who replace communist Cliffs Notes ideals with tailored suits and Xbox deals.
It’s not clear whether the band returned to the studio for the first time in a decade-and-a-half to clear up some unresolved creative matters or to smack back the younger contingency with jealous vigor.
If the odds weren’t stacked enough against the band, Content comes without the aid of the original rhythm section – a concern, since Gang of Four’s sense of rhythm is their secret weapon.
But their primary shooter has always been Andy Gill. He’s still here, and his angular guitar work sounds inspired and continually fresh. And judging from “You Don’t Have To Be Mad,” the replacement rhythm section sounds perfectly in mesh with Gill’s guitar stabs and metallic stutters.
Yet something’s missing throughout Content, and there’s no getting around the feeling that, out of all of the band’s contributors, vocalist Jon King sounds like the weak link in the chain.
His vocal performances lack color and depth, and the material he’s saddled with sounds like it’s nowhere near the intensity of the musical arrangements. Never mind that King and company could have found ample material from strip-mine consumerism and our modern ideal of social behavior. Even the words themselves – at home he’s a tourist – can take on an entirely new perspective behind the glare of Facebook and other, sterile forms of social networking.
Instead, King is the epitome of settling, providing an unbalance throughout Content. While the rest of the band works hard at blending the old with the new, he shows little regard for matching their exuberance.
The result dampens the affair, reminding us that – as the band themselves once said – “We all have good intentions / But all with strings attached.” There’s plenty of good intention on Content, but the strings of their prior greatness hold back any chance that we’d tolerate a moderately executed late career offering.
Video: Gang Of Four – “You’ll Never Pay For The Farm”
Yeah, I streamed the album over at the band’s site and could not agree with you more. There seems to be a lack of, for lack of a better term, “oomph” surrounding the whole affair. Oh, well…
Rick Moody and Dave Allen interview
Love from me and Rick re a history of the Gang of Four.
It’s not a bad album. But it does deffinately lack the kick of their early offerings. It’s not surprising, though, for a band to reform after years or decades and NOT be able to replicate their earlier masterwork. They could have just been like The Pixies and toured for 2-3 years on ONE of their old albums.
Compared to most what’s out there today, it’s pretty good, though. These are the guys that every 30 year old rocker wants to sound like…
I’d much rather listen to “Content” than the last horrible Interpol album…ugh.
I have never understood what everyone hears in Entertainment.
Bob, when I hear people say that I want to fight them.
Ha! I don’t fancy myself a fighter but I’m pretty confident that I could take a hardcore Gang of Four fan, any day of the week.
I don’t know, we slap really really hard!
I just remember Entertainment being one of those records that came out and sounded like nothing else out there. Just this awesome, low-end tummy rumbling rhythms with Gill’s razor sharp guitar chops. Just really novel stuff for it’s time, and pretty unique even today.
I think Scotty and Kiko hit it on the head-this isn’t a bad album, just not one of those records that I’d use to point people in the direction of G.O.F.
As a matter of fact, Entertainment was one of those records that I recommended to a youngster who fell for it and asked “What’s the next Gang Of Four album I should look for. I told him Wire’s Pink Flag.
For sure, Content is tons better than Our Love To Admire. But is that saying anything?
I’m with you on Wire and I fully admit that my GOF opinion is probably a fault on my part. They’re no Dweezil Unit Zappa though.