With a history that stretches back over 30 years,
Comet Gain have cemented their status as an indie rock institution. Unlike most groups who reach that plain, they have absolutely no interest in standing still or repeating themselves. One way they keep things moving is by working with a different producer on each album. This time around, they teamed up with
Sean Read, a longtime sidekick of both
Kevin Rowland and
Edwyn Collins. He and the group decided to make
Letters to Ordinary Outsiders the lushest, most musically complex album the band has released. Added to their usual core of guitar, bass, drums, and keys are horns, synths, electric piano, backward guitars, and in a fun nod to
Dexys Midnight Runners, many songs that are introduced by
Read and members of the band have some witty exchanges of dialogue. Several moments recall the later records that the first incarnation of the group made in the '90s, but the lyrics and performances are imbued with much more desperation and wisdom. It wouldn't be
Comet Gain without those two factors present in heaping doses, and almost every song here -- barring the hilarious
Fall-inspired "Threads!" -- sandblasts the soul with wild emotional impulses, tears hearts asunder with bloody melancholy, and serves as a call to arms to the true believers. All the fancy arrangements and instrumental flourishes can't distract from the brilliance of
David Christian's lyrics and the way he and
Rachel Evans sing like every song is the last one they ever will. They do add something special, though, and the overall approach proves a resounding success.
Read's production is genius, there's brilliance in the way he boosts the ripping rockers with new levels of energy, drapes the ballads in extra layers of sadness, and brings out the emotional depth in the midtempo songs like "The Ballad of the Lives We Led" or "We Were Paintermen." The richness of the arrangements plays off the scrappiness of the vocals and clanging guitars like some kind of magic trick that defies expectations -- so don't worry if hearing that the band was going to get all dolled up and polished gave you pause. They have certainly gone up a level sonically, but at absolutely no cost and no reduction to all the things that matter like heart, soul, and hooks. Over the years,
Comet Gain have shown that they sound good no matter who produces them or where the record falls on the scale of fidelity; whether they're ripping off the top of heads with jagged rockers or sending listeners running for the tissue, tearing down walls or building them back up. They've earned their right to be thought of as one of the great bands of their time, and records like
Letters to Ordinary Outsiders are the reason why. ~ Tim Sendra
