The Charlatans 'do' New Order with fantastic results!
There is something reassuringly familiar and endearing about The Charlatans. Like a dearly beloved pair of Stan Smiths, their durability and continued excellence helps them maintain your affection despite the arrival of newer, sleeker and more contemporary rivals. Their uncanny knack of consistently producing tip-top quality singles has not only enabled the band to out-live many of their more lauded contemporaries; it has also helped them carve out a unique niche of their own. The Charlatans are unlike any other band born of the ‘baggy’ era, in that they have remained together and continued on a determined and steadfast journey surviving many a critical lambasting, countless changes in the musical climate, several musical reinventions (some inspired, others not so) and a fair amount of personal tragedy along the way. The band represents a musical equivalent of ‘Raging Bull’ Jake La Motta, such is their ability to sustain blows and still remain hungry, unwavering and triumphant.
Whilst The Charlatans are unquestionably one of the most consistent British bands of the past twenty or so years, innovation has never really been their strong point. Their early years saw them compared unfavourably to The Stone Roses and they were later accused of jumping on the Britpop bandwagon and half-inching elements of Oasis’ sound. ‘The Misbegotten’ is a further example of The Charlatans taking their cues from one of the Mancunian ‘Holy Trinity’ (apologies go out to fans of Elbow, Happy Mondays and of course Freddy and the Dreamers). The track finds the band in retrospective mood and is arguably the best New Order song in years. Featuring both Barney Sumner on backing vocals and a typically melodic and punchy ‘Hooky’ bass-line from the Hookmeister himself (given the frosty relations between the two New Order titans, this is a coup that Kofi Annan would be pleased with); the track sounds as though it has come straight from the ’24 Hour Party People’ soundtrack, indeed you could imagine many a floppy-fringed, skinny indie kid giving it beans to this track.
‘The Misbegotten’ is the third single from the band’s 10th studio album ‘You Cross My Path’, all of which have been excellent. LP’s have never really been the band’s specialist area, but the unflinching quality of the singles suggests this one could be worth further investigation. To conclude, it is perhaps fitting to return to the ‘Raging Bull’ comparison; in their infancy The Charlatans seemed destined to be Joe Pesci to The Stone Roses Robert De Niro. Given the longevity and consistency of their career, it is a shackle that the band have long shaken off. No longer supporting actors, The Charlatans continue to impress with their star quality.