Robyn Hitchcock: Jewels For Sophia ---Ink Blot Magazine

Robyn Hitchcock: Jewels For Sophia

at a glance...

Hometown: London, England
First Recordings: 1976

Personnel:
Robyn Hitchcock -vocals, guitars, bass, piano, harmonica
Aloke Dutta -tablas
Jon Brion -drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals
Tim Keegan -vocals, guitar, shaker
Scott McCaughey -bass, vocals
Peter Buck -guitar
Tad Hutchinson -drums, percussion
Kurt Bloch -percussion
Grant Lee Phillips -vocals
Kimberly Rew -guitars, vocals
John Fell -bass
Rob Alum -drums
Jake Kyle -bass
Patrick Hannan -drums
James Fletcher -saxophones

Bands In The Family:
Soft Boys, Homer, REM, The Fastbacks.

Notes:
Robyn Hitchcock has spent most of his career being the right guy at the wrong time. When his first ensemble, The Soft Boys, first trod the boards in the mid 70s they so alienated punks with their tricky time signatures, tight harmonies, and long hair that the punks never realized that The Soft Boys were even more pissed off than they were. When he first went solo Hitchcock's Lennon-esque voice, immaculate melodies, and chiming guitars were similarly out of pace with the slick dance-pop of the early 80s. His band the Egyptians (basically a reformed, less guitar-heavy Soft Boys) found some favor with the jangly guitar legions ten years ago, but during the 90s his music got lighter even as radio rock got heavier. In middle age he's grown into the role of pop's earnest, slightly goofy old uncle.

Robyn Hitchcock
Jewels For Sophia
Warner Bros., Released 1999

Any career that spans a quarter century is bound to have its ups and downs - this record is somewhere in between.

Robyn Hitchcock has been responsible for some absolutely fantastic music like the pensive, mostly acoustic I Often Dream Of Trains, the playfully psychedelic Fegmania, and the tunefully misanthropic Black Snack Diamond Role. Stylistically diverse, these records are unified by Hitchcock's expressive voice, indelible melodies, and colorfully bizarre lyrics. On the other hand he's churned out blandly produced duds like Respect and Perspex Island.

This record was recorded in two countries with four co-producers; its sound veers from acoustic balladry to punchy up-tempo rock without ever really establishing a unified feel. This wouldn't be a problem if the songs were all up to snuff, but they're not. Hitchcock scores a bulls eye whenever he sticks to personal, relationship-oriented "Dark Princess," the contentedly domestic "I Feel Beautiful," and the loss-laden "I Don't Remember Guilford." But like well polished apples that are bad at the core, the peppy up-tempo arrangements of "The Cheese Alarm" and "Viva! Sea-Tac" dress up banal lyrics that, in another age, would have ended up in the discard pile.

Hitchcock devotees will doubtless already have this, but if you're thinking of checking him out for the first time try one of the records mentioned below first.

If you like Robyn Hitchcock, check out:
Robyn Hitchcock Invisible Hitchcock
The Beatles Revolver
Syd Barrett The Madcap Laughs
REM Reckoning

-- Bill Meyer

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