Live Review | Graham Coxon 03.30.05 @ Black Cat, Washington, D.C.

With their 1998 self-titled album, Graham Coxon and Blur were under immense pressure following two masterpiece records with something just as interesting, if not totally bold and divergent from their previous efforts. The landmark that was 1994’s Parklife set a precedent for the group and all but defined the Brit Pop phenomena as arguably the genre’s best record. The new record was neither Parklife nor the follow-up The Great Escape, but an ode (and jab) at the American indie movement that Blur once competed with for pop headlines. The groups’ adoration of transcendent rock and it’s predecessors (Sonic Youth, Pavement, Pixies) was washed away under the disappointment of American consumers when they didn’t get “Song 2” the album after the single dropped.

The often tenuous relationship between singer Coxon and his partners didn’t improve under the scrutiny of the record and their flicker of stateside chart success. When 13 was released, Coxon had already debuted some inspired solo material, and contributing only a few overdubs to what would be his final Blur record. He would go on to embrace the music of his youth in his solo work, including punk and psychadelia, which he couldn’t always indulge in as a member of Blur.

Stumbling on stage in a blazer and his trademark horned-rim glasses, Graham Coxon is the picture of kind yet anti-social rock genius, bearing a strong resemblance to a young Elvis Costello. Flooding his system with a mix of Jolt Cola and Red Bull, he quickly degenerates into a hyperactive teenager once strumming through “My Hopeless Friend” then banging “No Good Time”. Two songs deep into the setlist, he’s lost his blazer and nearly sent his specs spiraling into the audience with his stage antics. His transition from humble and modest into manic adolescence is a privilege not often afforded by his later time in Blur. Coxon’s new music has afforded him a substantial outlet for homage to his own early influences and his current ones as well.

Over the course of Coxon’s solo tours, a different backing band has been used nearly every time. His current touring five-piece give the guitarist an even more ample platform for antics, remaining fluidly agile behind Coxon’s whims. Playing “Just Be Mine“ (from 2004’s Kiss of Morning) and “Are Your Lonely” (from his 1998 debut The Sky is Too High) nearly back-to-back, Coxon predominantly played material from his newest release Happiness in Magazines. The swaying joviality of the record gives a youthful Coxon’s a greater importance as well, separating him from the resistant pack of Brit Pop guitarists-turned-solo artists. Neither John Squire nor Bernard Butler (ex-Stone Roses and Suede, respectively) could produce the accessible and non-pretentious record that Coxon has. Through the melody and charm of his new material, live and on record, he isn’t too shy to show-off what made his name, blistering his digits through “People Of the Earth”.

Coxon shows his range capably but tactfully, with “Girl Done Gone” dredging the Delta swamps before turning into an electrified stomp. “Bittersweet Bundle of Misery” holds closely to Coxon’s hybridized Pavement squeals and Buzzcocks punk over “Spectacular” and “Freakin’ Out”. Mission of Burma’s “Fame and Fortune” was another testament to his love of the indie godfathers, as “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” (recorded on 2000’s The Golden D) had been a live show standard.

Towards the evening’s end, Coxon shows his enjoyment in being on his own, playing “Hopeless Friend”, which may be as much a stab at Blur singer Damon Albarn as “Charmless Man” was to Noel Gallagher. As the English music tabloids hoot and holler about a Blur reunion, seeing Graham Coxon performing his material in his own manner exposes a happiness he couldn’t find in collaboration and certainly not under the pressure the Blur moniker guarantees.

Grahan Coxon's official website www.grahamcoxon.co.uk

Astralwerks Records site www.astralwerks.com

Reviewed for Earlash Music Sight