weightlifting album review

newhouse news service

september 21, 2004

Trashcan Sinatras, "Weightlifting" (spinART)

Rating: THREE STARS

George Harrison was right: The taxman will get you, right 'til the day you die.

Tax troubles apparently nearly put the great, underrated Scottish band Trashcan Sinatras out of business in the 1990s, but thanks partially to a grant from a Scottish Arts Council they dug up enough change to record this sublime and subdued comeback set.

It's a worthy effort, a modest but welcome return to form.

The band is light-years away from its punkish moniker. The music here is moody, penetrating, dream-weaving and well thought out, a bit reminiscent of Prefab Sprout and Belle & Sebastian.

At their best they deliver some gorgeous melodies, especially midway through the disc on "Usually" and "It's a Miracle." The latter, like the opening "Welcome Back," is one of the few real up-tempo tracks here, and that's unfortunate because Trashcan Sinatras can cook with the best of them. They tend to get overly mundane and too light late in the disc on "A Coda" and the uninspiring "Trouble Sleeping" but finish in perfectly eloquent fashion with the touching title track.

Originally appeared on the Newhouse News Service.