[rating=8.00]
Much superior to the initial reunion record, 2012’s Three Chords Good, Graham Parker & The Rumour’s followup Mystery Glue is the work of former band-mates fully reacquainted with each other. And if it doesn’t sound exactly like the 1979 watershed Squeezing Out Sparks, it’s because it’s not meant to. Hearing Mystery Glue is like overhearing the conversations of old friends as they rediscover how much they’ve changed and yet how much they still have in common.
The title of the record alone suggests GP & The Rumour’s awareness of their unique chemistry. Yet, unlike on the previous record, they’re not stilted by self-consciousness. Instead of moving haltingly through performances of songs such as “Transit of Venus,” they play with a self-assured delicacy; the musicianship permeated with a healthy detachment that elevates the insight the song’s author offers in the lyrics. Similarly, the paean to parenthood and personal growth, “Going There,” has a deceptive urgency within the intertwining electric and acoustic guitars of Martin Belmont and Brinkley Schwartz underpinned with the insistent drumming of Stephen Goulding. This isn’t the borderline desperation of 1977’s Stick to Me because at the core of this lush robust sound is a tempered sense of perspective.
And while the sense of rediscovery within “Wall of Grace” here isn’t the same kind of wildly joyous collective epiphany as contained on Heat Treatment—close to four decades later, these men not only know their roots but the distinctive imprint with which they’ve informed their grasp of rock, folk r&b and pop. This steady folk-rock via Motown structure is as satisfying in its own way. As is the wry peppy “Swing State,” where keyboardist Bob Andrews reminds he’s this band’s secret weapon, extending the demonstration of abiding affection that camouflages Parker’s dismissal of anger as a worthwhile emotional expression.
Maturity becomes Graham Parker and The Rumour because they didn’t really sound like kids when they first played together: they’d all had their share of struggles in the English pub-rock scene by the time the ensemble coalesced and now they have the added experience of (at least some measure) of rock stardom. The arrangement of “Slow News Day,” flowers through the detail in the guitar interplay as its buttressed with Andrew Bodnar’s staunch bass lines, the likes of which wouldn’t work without the requisite application of patience.
Like these musicians’ prior collaborations, Mystery Glue has its share of exercises in style, like the lighthearted boogie-woogie of “Railroad Spikes.” But such tracks carry more weight now in reaffirming how much these six men still love playing and singing together. And while the kazoo-intro’d tongue in cheek fantasy titled “My Life in Movieland,” might’ve drawn more directly on the ensemble’s appearance in Judd Apatow’s This Is Forty, what might otherwise sound like a throwaway becomes entertaining on its own terms. Within this context songs including “Flying into London,” portray the vivid personality of Graham Parker, his abiding relationship with The Rumour and how they complement each other.
By the time the fingerpoppin’ “Pub Crawl” rolls around, followed immediately by “I’ve Done Bad Things,” the temptation to turn up the volume on this record is well nigh irresistible, as the infectious nature of the dozen cuts is cumulative. On material like “Long Shot” and “Fast Crowd,” Graham Parker and the Rumour transcend the cliches of those titles as much as they confound expectations for Mystery Glue as a whole.
