Occasionally I could curse the past, the way we've mugged the metaphor and trampled all sense of wonder from what were sometimes great notions. My beef today is with Glamrock, with the brute ignorance with which a bunch of uncaring brickies in eyeliner and tartan dungarees appropriated a phrase to which they had no right, a phrase heaven sent for Gene Loves Jezebel. 

Oh yes, GLJ are Glamrockers alright, the first really pretty ones we've had since The Furs fled to New York, but there is nothing reverently revivalist about them. The sweet decadence and endearing dippiness which wafts through "Discover" like perfume is a fresh thrill for a new generation of beauties in black. 

Elsewhere in this issue, Simon Reynolds will try to convince you that innocence is the only way forward. GLJ would agree. Lyrically simplistic, totally unabashed to be caught in love, GLJ make a banquet from that most basic of carnal mysteries, love. "Sweetest Thing", the brazen single, "Heartache", "Desire" and "Over The Rooftops" are the brightest, most enthusiastic effusions of agonized ecstasy dressed up as camp and stepping out with rampant guitars since Billy Idol took to reading murder books, trying to stay hip. 

Ex-Gen Xer James Stevenson's quicksilver touch has broken the back of the lumbering beast the GLJ once were and the songs spread their wings like ghosts, liberated from the Goth grave, looking to the skies. He's forced Mike and Jay to contemplate melody and the harshness of their bickering, billing and cooing sets the songs on edge, as if in every embrace there lurks the threat of strangulation. 

The blighted joy of "Discover" is that it's a tarnished awakening to possibilities, the dark pout overcome by an impulse to dance. 

"Discover" is by no means faultless - that's part of its beauty. The production is heavy where it should be shattering and there's still a crucifix tied to their ribbons and pearls but, if you're susceptible to anthems and suspicious of self-righteousness, Gene Loves Jezebel will plant a smacker on your lips and lead you astray. 
 

 

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