Blur - 13 Review

AGING CHAVS EXPLORING THE NEW FRONTIER

After six albums and nearly a decade in the 90's spotlight, Blur finally achieved something that, as a whole, I'd consider above-average. Right on time for Albarn to jump ship and prosper on the newfound ingenuity with Gorillaz. 13 lays the foundation for his groundbreaking group, with a hodgepodge of intersecting styles and sounds. You throw a couple gritty Hip-Hop tracks in here and 13 suddenly becomes Gorillaz's de facto debut. Nowhere is that more apparent than 'Trailerpark' and 'Trimm Trabb,' with their woozy, groovy Trip-Hop modulations. The hollow acoustics, extemporaneous lyrics, and slow-moving churlish behavior all point towards Gorillaz's myriad of deep cuts.

By this time, with the decade closing, Britpop was all but dead, and one can clearly see that with the expansive testing surface of 13. Cohesion, it has very little of. The closest we get comes on standout single 'Coffee & TV,' if we're to exclude the grippy and meddlesome guitar solo turned Krautrock freakout come track's end. It's not the only Krautrock influence we'll hear either, as the seven-minute pair of 'Battle' and 'Caramel' both explore that avenue with distinctive variation. The former weaves around primitive Electronics akin to Kraftwerk, if scratched viciously by antagonistic Noise Rock. The latter, a softer affair that's likely Blur's most atmospheric track, bordering on Slowcore, Post-Rock, and other trendy, doomsday genres.

Then there's the group's greatest utilization of influence: Spiritualized. 13's two best songs pull primarily from J. Spaceman's catalogue, namely the crowning achievement - which came out two years prior - Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. The songs in question? Opener 'Tender' and theoretical closer, if not for the instrumental ice cream truck jaunt of 'Optigan I,' 'No Distance Left To Run.' The former bites Spiritualized (successfully, mind you) by building Gospel through a larger-than-life choir and preposterously-optimistic lyrics. The slight Country Rock is a satisfying, and necessary, addition for separation. Blur's best song is a Spiritualized copy? Not sure what that says about the group and their slew of hit singles. As for 'No Distance Left To Run,' Albarn's pleading and preaching soul, against the backdrop of scuffed acoustics, finds similarities with Ladies & Gentlemen's cerebrated deep cuts.

Needless to say, 13 is all over the place. At the same time, it's a fascinating case study in pairing creativity with confidence. Maturation too, as almost nothing here I'd suspect Blur - the one-note Britpop chavs - of accomplishing. It's a response album, to a dying genre they helped birth. A desperate plea to glob onto something new, discovering along the way that talent supersedes all.