A Reminder - "The Facts of Life" (2000 - Jetset) By Black Box Recorder...Isn't It A Splendid & Pure British Album About The Real Facts Of Life?

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You take the good, you take the Badalamenti -- anyone who thinks The Facts of Life includes half-baked songs without meat is missing the point. Would you consider dumping a bucket of lime green paint on that new marble countertop in your kitchen nook? Didn't think so. That's pretty much what you'd be doing to Black Box Recorder's second LP if you feel the tunes need more substance. Half-baked? Not in the least; The Facts of Life is a fresh wedge of sourdough (dourdough?), just as simple but more tasty. Luke Haines and John Moore get the most mileage possible out of their sparse, noir-tinged melancholia, rarely needing extraneous things like overdubs or distortion for the sake of it. Sarah Nixey increases her stock as a worthy Bond siren, less kitschy and more swaggerly than that other Sarah. Like the finest charms of songs by the other Sarah's St. Etienne, "Weekend" carries its weight as a gorgeous, slightly upbeat pop song. You want catchy simplicity? Try a chorus of "Friday night/Saturday morning," with Haines' hypnotically shimmering guitar spirals to add accent. Flashes of Haines' tasteful glam jones run rampant in "Straight Life," which slyly references Roxy Music in a number of ways. The play on Roxy Music's "Street Life" is apparent in the title, as well as having lyrical nods to Roxy's "In Every Dream Home aHeartache."

Seemingly embracing middle class Englishness while simultaneously rejecting it, Nixey ponders escaping transient lifestyles while grimacing at the thought of home repairs. Black Box Recorder is a master of the simple, effective melody (as are Haines' Auteurs). Also, not too many vocalists possess Nixey's ridiculous skill at making sheer boredom sound so affecting. If David Lynch should ever film a TV series in England, here are the soundtrack composers. "Hey folks, have you seen Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise?" Sorry mate, we dropped them off at Big Ed's Gas Farm. They're in a bag, wrapped in plastic.



Some More Bla Bla Bla... By The Splendid Mag...

Luke Haines has always had a knack for turning the mundane and ordinary into the erotic and mysterious. This has been apparent since his early work with the Auteurs, which often saw him transmuting everyday occurrences into ribald fantasies. But when I listen to Haines' early work, it's now clear that there was something missing: the haunting voice of Black Box Recorder vocalist Miss Sarah Nixey. In Nixey, Haines has not only found the perfect voice with which to paint his tawdry vignettes, but the ultimate sex symbol to front his otherwise faceless group.

Now, after appearing on countless British end-of-the-year-best-of lists, Black Box Recorder's sophomore effort is finally seeing the light of Stateside day.

On The Facts of Life, Haines and musical co-conspirator cum multi-instrumentalist John Moore construct a vast sonic wonderland in which Nixey’s starry-eyed vocals are given free reign. "The Art of Driving" finds her cooing seductively over twinkling percussion and gentle breaks as she and Haines engage in an erotically charged musical conversation. "Weekend" and "Straight Life" showcase Moore’s more unabashedly pop leanings, employing ultra-smooth production and shimmering keyboards to create something that certainly wouldn’t sound out of place among our current crop of boy/girl bands. But for all intents and purposes this is the Haines & Nixey show, and when they’re on they’re really on, as "May Queen"'s synthetic country-soul balladry and "Gift Horse"'s roughed-up production and Baroque piano flourishes will certainly attest.

The US release of The Facts of Life contains two bonus tracks that nearly steal the show. "Start as You Mean to Go On" finds Haines and Moore replacing their sumptuous symphonies with a dirty, Pulp-like guitar dirge. In contrast, "Brutality"'s title couldn’t be further from the truth; its genteel Morricone-aping production and slinky vocals sound as soft as silk and twice as pretty.

While The Facts of Life probably won't catapult Black Box Recorder to the level of Stateside success experienced by Coldplay and Travis, it is certainly a release worthy of your undivided attention. Though these Facts of Life are more subtle (and morbid) than current mainstream Britpop, their stark and sometimes disturbing details will still be with you long after you’re through being "Yellow".