Baby's Angry (Bonus Track Version)

Album Review

Not an album so much as it is a rejigged compilation of the band's early singles on the Hut label — and not a complete one at that, though only two tracks out of 11 are missing — Baby's Angry is as good a collection of mid-tier, early-'90s shoegaze as it gets. In other words, it's not the end of the world, and definitely can't match the heights of the true geniuses working with the sound in general, but it's not a bad listen at all, either. Mat Flint's voice, though it often aims for the whole wounded choirboy approach almost too well, often has an attractive lightness to it that works when the music really cranks up. When he sounds more like he's in the Dentists than a band that followed Isn't Anything, he's at his best, as "Red All Over" in particular shows. Overall, when the band as a whole goes for energetic guitar pop with fuzz as opposed to endless cascades, everything really shines, and one can audibly note the band getting more interesting and energetic over time. "Venice" is a great example — it's one of the most rocked-out tunes that the band created, and the layers of vocals Flint adds to its Pale Saints-meets-Boo Radleys surge works as a treat. Credit to Nick Dewey's drums adding some brisk punch, as he does on a good number of the songs — "Molasses," the title aside, actually kicks along quickly on the verses and goes reasonably full-force on the break. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise is the one cover version included — "Since Yesterday," the fluke U.K. pop hit from Strawberry Switchblade in the mid-'80s — Revolver's version can't quite equal it, to be sure, but it's still a mournfully captivating treat.