Once upon a time, Ian McCulloch was the hilarious king of overstatement with no grasp of the concept of modesty. When the (admittedly brilliant) Ocean Rain came out in 1984, McCulloch hailed it “the greatest album ever made.” Liam Gallagher has been clearly been taking notes, to the point of getting into a spectacular spat with Mac the Mouth.
For Meteorites, the Bunnymen’s twelfth album in a whopping 36 year career – give or take a hiatus or two and a few line-up tweaks – McCulloch has dropped the bluster and looked inwards. It’s the sound of a man confronting himself and his life. It is, on occasion at least, brilliant.
The Coldplay-on-steroids opening title-track is a little off-putting. When they hit their stride, however, the Bunnymen soar (‘Holy Moses’, ‘Constantinople’ and seven minute epic ‘Market Town’).
Will Sergeant’s guitar is as coolly seductive on ‘Constantinople’ as it was all those years ago on ‘The Killing Moon’ (he and McCulloch are effectively the last two original Bunnymen left standing). ‘Is This A Breakdown?’ finds McCulloch wrestling with recent demons over a jaunty beat. A sunny chorus takes the listener by surprise. As indeed does Meteorites as a whole: in sum, it’s a welcome comeback salvo that will placate the faithful, while confounding the cynical.