Thoughts on Barking (Track by Track)

[holden]

Ok, i couldn't resist. Wanted to wait for the box to appear, but i'll still have fun with that, listening to the other disc and looking at the art and videos, etc.

So i took "Barking" out for a walk in the Toronto drizzle today. Early impressions:

Bird 1 - Enjoying the crispness of the LP version and being able to make out the lyrics better than the live renditions. A bit of menace or at least suspense to open the record. Also surprised how effective the refrain is, as it's several minutes in before we hear "There is one bird in my house". 8/10
Always Loved A Film - Since this has been living in my player for weeks, not much surprise, other than it's still catchy as heck. The downside for me is what i interpret as Knight/Ramirez backing vox on the "and i don't know if i love you more..." bridge. Would prefer to hear Rick. It's a fine single, but as we kno, it's a far ways off from the works in progress, which all had a rough edge. 7/10
Scribble- Same as above, no surprise. But it's still delightful, and in the realm of Two Months Off...uplifting, imminently danceable. 7/10
Hamburg Hotel - I also get the "Mmm skyscraper" and mid-90's b-side/jams feel from this. The distorted and barely deciperhable female vocals, the drum patterns, the chord progressions - all distinctly Underworld. The arp-y bassline has some great effects added. Yeah, it sort of fades away, but there are a lot of elements to enjoy. 8.5/10
Grace - Haunting lyrics, driving beat. The choir effect at the start is not my favorite. But hey, waitresses, violently in love, a bit about music being too loud, silence a blessing - this is a stark contrast to the jubilant singles and the tender closer "Louisiana". One of the more claustophobic and dark tracks fo UW, in the vein of "Stagger". 8/10
Between Stars - Definitely agree with the Depeche Mode comparisons ("Behind the Wheel"?). Very synth-pop. Not crazy about the lyrics, and i think this one is a little overproduced. By the end, i was turning the volume down. Probably will grow on me, but not feeling it right now. 5/10
Diamond Jigsaw - PvD's involvment in this one doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's rocking and hard-driving. I certainly hope the junky guitar riff is Karl playing livee, not a sample! Similarly, the ending breakdown has what sounds like live drums. Certainly hearkens back to mki UW and late 80's/early 90's synth rock. Much better without the cheesy synth stabs from former live versions. Much improved, i think. 7/10
Moon In Water - Definitely my favorite of the album. Yes, it clashes with the songs before, perhaps because of the metaphysical(?) lyrics ( i can hear reviewers wondering "What the F is this about?") and female voice, but it also paves the way from dance to the tender closer. When the "does not wait to catch his reflection" loop and beats kick in, it's bliss. And it only gets warmer. I love how the vocal loop is treated with chorus or flanger or whatever until the words are less important than the melody. So glad that this got the LP treatment, as the radio broadcast version has been a favorite of mine, but it did seem unfinished. I could listen to this 10 times in a row, it just makes me feel infinite. 9.5/10
Louisiana - whoa. This is just a beautiful track. Yes, definitely a bit out of place considering what came before, though i do think it benefits from having Moon In Water's somewhat more warm/calm influence separating it from Diamond Jigsaw. "When you touch me, planets in sweet collision. Quietly violent." "I fell asleep last night on the Underground" "...bullets in conversation." Wow. I'm about to cry. It's no banging ender like "Moaner" or "Leutin", but it's an emotional core to what is, in spots, a glossy populist record. 8.5/10
Simple Peel - works for me. Calming drones and bells that fade as if walking down the streets. We know Rick and Karl have been up to ambient or sounscape-ish ttracks for a while, this is fine as the bonus track. 7.5/10

Overall, very enjoyable listen, unscientific average 7.6/10. It does seem like a collection of singles until tracks 8-9-10 sort of consolidate a deeper mood that i guess was evident on Bird1 and Grace. Its not just hands-in-the-air euphoria as ALAF, Scribble, DJ would seem to imply. It also occurs to me that all previous albums may seem cohesive and sequenced because we KNOW them that way. Very few tracks in their back catalog are mixed together end-on-end, and certainly BF had several big singles all in a row. So with time and listens, this will feel just as deliberate and "right". For the moment, i'm just enjoying the surprises.
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