Customer Reviews

Facts of Life

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You've heard of mood music? The Facts of Life is mood music with a nasty little secret. Every track is a potential conspiracy theory, every little sweetly vicious turn of phrase by Sarah Nixey a dreamscape of uncertainty, a generous slice of middle ground between the the strangely familiar and the easily contemptible. When Nixey sings "Weekend" you start to suspect creepy crawly minions under the dustcloths and throw rugs of your most deeply private sectors. This is a sucker punch of a record that knocks you off your feet and doesnt let you up until you've reevaluated everything about every relationship you've ever had.

Black Box Recorder's second album is a much sunnier affair than their bleak debut album"England Made Me." While they no longer have any songs about insanity and dead children they are still writing some of the sharpest pop music around using deadpan observation.

First single "The Facts of Life" has become a minor hit know in England and deservedly so. It is at the same time uplifting and depressing in equal proportions. Lyrically it deals with the pains of adolescense but its honesty and truthfulness is what makes it so special. "No one gets through life without being hurt" and "it's just the facts of life/there's no masterplan" are good examples of the material being dealt with. Musically the song is quite dark. The harmonies are quite lovely as they gradually build over top of each other towards the end.

Elsewhere Black Box Recorder hits the mark by constantly mixing clever lyrics with the darkly affecting tunes. "The Art of Driving" satirizes a sexual relationship using driving as a metaphor while "May Queen" deals with youthful romance. Other great tunes include "Sex Life" and "French Rock N'Roll."

Sarah Nixxey's vocals are a welcome breath of fresh air. While she has a traditional "girly" voice she is not nearly as abrassive as many singers. She sometimes uses her honeyed vocals to add a decieving feeling of comfort to otherwise bleak surroundings.

Black Box Recorder's second album is certainly one of the best of 2000. The closest comparaisons can be drawn to Pulp, but musically this is darker than "This is Hardcore." Lyrically speaking BBR's frontman Luke Haines is possibly even more brutally honest and observational than Pulp's Jarvis. Any group that can open a song with the line "they're digging up human remains in Notting Hill" and make the rest sound lovely is definitley worth investigating.

Black Box Recorder fascinated me from the moment I saw the video for "child psychology". They are probably one of the most interesting bands releasing music. "The Facts of Life", the latest offering after the simply superb debut "England Made Me", did not disappoint me. We start the album with the almost tongue and cheek sexiness (the la-da-da's of The Art of Driving), move into a beautiful lament (The English Motorway System), and rock out with instant popness on other tracks (Sex Life, The Facts of Life). The whole album is rather great, and surpasses their debut. My favourite tracks are The Gift Horse and The English Motorway System. The bonus tracks make you wonder why they weren't included in the whole. "Goodnight Kiss" is a beautiful song about that nervous moment before you lean in after a long date. Highly suggested.

Excellent, excellent music.... As lots of folks have said already, this indeed sounds like a slightly sinister St. Etienne, with perhaps a bit of Trembling Blue Stars thrown in...but with a pretty distinctive personality of its own, too. Has anyone else noticed how much Sarah Nixey can sound like Olivia Newton John, by the way (particularly on "The Art of Driving")? A-OK with me. On the mildly negative side, there's the occasional embarrassing lyric here and there, but on the whole they're lovely and a big leap forward from the still awfully good first album.

...I describe it as the album Clinic would release once they have Cia Soro as their leadsinger. @ any rate, it is truly a magical album that improves on the sombre debut England Made Me to create a sound & mood that is both indulgent (But nowhere near selfindulgent) & sardonic. Luke Haines & John Moore's lyrics work either as subdued Jarvis Cockeresque narratives ("May Queen", "The Deverell Twins") or as simple, axiomatic observations ("The Art Of Driving", "Weekend", "The English Motorway System", "The Facts Of Life", "Straight Life"):-Combining this with Sarah Nixey's glossy, breathy voice & a minimalist yet chilling electroacoustic backdrop & you have a winner. Make sure you also check out the sleeve where excerpted lyrics from all of the songs (But the titletrack) are displayed as seriocomic balloons in awkward situations:- Very much in the style of Pulp.

Oh, & my personal favourite is "Sex Life", thanks for asking.

"The Facts of Life", Black Box Recorder's second album, follows suite in their amazing debut of twisted nursery rhymns, "England Made Me". This is certainly an album to be cherished in one's cd collection - the lyrics are clever and provocative, the music is soothing and intelligent and the mixture can leave the listener awe struck.

In this album, the band has matured a bit. Their storytelling can deliver a much appreciated sense of nostalgia for one's own teenage years - after all, who doesn't remember their boyfriend/girlfriend pushing the relationship one step further than you were ready to go, that almost too-cozy encounter with your highschool best friend or the introspective of a child trying to live as an adult.

Lead singer, Nixey's voice sounds almost like a submissive siren, as she faintly sings anthemns about teenage sexuality and desire. Haines and Moore push their music writing even further, keeping the low tones of instruments and mixing in small beats and rythmns that add a certain liveliness to their melodies. Some of the radio-worthy songs, "Art of Driving" and "Facts of Life", have a good combonation of indie rock/folk with a touch of pop, at the same time expelling the requirements of any particular genre. For those who appreciate rock/pop and alternative music, this will fit in easy to your music collection, though there is enough to interest electronica and folk fans alike.

Out of all the one hit wonders I'm subjected to each morning of my commute - its really nice to have a cd that one can appreciate all the way through.

England Made Me, Black Box Recorder's stellar debut, was the first and seemingly last word in English self-hatred and hypocrisy. On The Facts of Life, their equally wonderful second release, they extend their bitterness to the world in general, the generous buggers. Every one of these eleven acerbic tracks are wickedly funny; when the laughter subsides they're simply wicked. Sarah Nixey's breathy diction, belying a proper British education, adds layers of ironic subtext to these nasty relationship vignettes. The music - minimally witty - underscores the desperate whiff of alienation here. Not as immediately bracing as England Made Me (that took the measure of a national consciousness), The Facts of Life may ultimately be more terrifying. These are songs about a more common monster, the one you hardly recognize because it lives with you, or might, in fact, be you.

I bought this album on import and if you're a fan of the band's first foray "England Made Me," you'll definitely be a fan of this one. Admittedly, on "England..." the vocals were melodramatic and monotone while the harmonies were a bit one sided. The album as a whole was quite one dimensional on the third or fourth listen. I can say that now simply because I've heard the magic on this, their second LP. On this latest outing, Sarah Nixey almost tries hard to change the pitch and tone of her vocals to each song making each one individually shine and jump out off the album. The instrumentals are more varied and overall, the sound of Black Box seems to be more defined; their point of view more clear. Harmonies are more refined, melodies are more mature, leading up to a product that is both introspective, quiet, and constantly unraveling. Don't expect the next Oasis or a new, harsh vocal shout in the British invasion we've all undoubtedly heard about. This band seems to enjoy the cover of anonymity, preferring to sneak below the radar of listeners then surprising them when they least expect it. I've only listened to the album about two times, but I know already it's going to be heavily played in my rotation at home and at work.

The spirit of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen delivered in the sweet Stepford Wife whisper of Sarah Nixey. This is poison so sweet you'll never know what hit you.

An enormous and delightful surprise. Who'da thought that Black Box Recorder would follow up their rather creepily impressive debut, "England Made Me" with a record this dreamy and, when it comes right down to it, sweet? Don't be fooled by either their name or the slabs of meat on the cover; the majority of songs here are about the fumblings, the adventures and misadventures, of adolescent sex and romance; and while it certainly sounds calculated, it also sounds like they mean it and I believe it. One exception is "Gift Horse," a throwback to the first album's weaker songs (and most of Luke Haines' vague and incomplete Auteurs' songs), which apparently attempts to relate the true story of an English couple who buried their murder victims in their garden (the UK's version of our J.W. Gacy horror). "Gift Horse" is monotonous, vague and unrewarding. Sarah Nixey's repetitive cooing of "I just want to be loved" goes on and on and on. It's neither terrifying nor enlightening, just coy and annoying. It's the pop music equivalent of Atom Egoyan's lame "Felicia's Journey."

But that's the exception on this compelling and lovely album. Nixey's spoken/sung style is starting to sound almost - dare I say it? - warm, and Luke Haines' songwriting has come a very long way in terms of developing complete songs, both in music and lyrics. The anxiety, fear, awkwardness and magic (albeit rare) of teenage sexual discovery and experimentation is solidly evoked throughout. I liked the first record very much, but "The Facts of Life" is a great leap forward and a very different beast. The cheap shock tactics are largely gone, replaced with a sweetness more meaningful and honest. I can't wait to see what they'll make next.