Lloyd Cole & the Commotions. Geffen. After entering the intellectual-but-sensitive-young-man school of British rock on last year’s “Rattlesnake,” Cole and company are trying for more depth by incorporating a style that’s worked well for Milwaukee’s Violent Femmes: mixing religious convictions with basic folk/pop. But unlike the Femmes’ Gordon Gano, who wrestles with his beliefs in his songs, Cole slips in an occasional biblical reference or two more for effect than anything else. Which is too bad, because when he’s not “walking in the pouring rain . . . with Jesus and Jane” Cole can put together a mean string of words about messed-up women in a messed-up world. The band manages to unleash an enjoyable tune like “Rich” and “The Lost Weekend” now and again, so if you can clamber through the layers of pretension, it might be worth the effort.
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Publication date: 26/01/86