God's On His Lunchbreak (Please Call Back) [Digital Only]

Album Review

For his third album since finally breaking the 25-year semi-silence that followed the end of Radio Stars, Martin Gordon is clearly of the opinion that if you have a successful formula, stick to it. And the fact that the only formula he adheres to is one of maniacal brilliance, all breakneck wordplay and punch-drunk power pop, only confirms his rigidity. Opening with the "Whangdepootenawah"-esque freneticism of the opening "Fickle," positively the most psychotic love song since the heyday of the Smiths, God's on His Lunchbreak shamelessly blisters on through the magpie Steptoe-meets-the-Small Faces magnificence of "All Day Thinking" and a punky rampage through Gilbert & Sullivan, before dropping even the most stubborn jaw with the closing "F*gs," a gorgeously heartfelt melody that suddenly transforms into a hardcore bellow, before winding down with the sound of coughing. Oh, those sorts of f*gs. Elsewhere are opportunities to embrace a soaring celebration of sporting heartache, "Bad Light Stops Play"; a cracking cover of Paul McCartney's "Too Many People," rearranged for a garage pop pantomime; and "Gimme Food," a "Snack Attack"-flavored menu of so many munchies that your waist expands just listening to it. And much, much more. Recorded with co-conspirators who include Swedish singer Pelle Almgren and longtime collaborator Chris Townson, God's on His Lunchbreak is a mercurial mélange, a crash course in everything that catchy, sassy, and incredibly well-detailed pop/rock lunacy should be. If there were such a genre, and so many of the listening public weren't such snobs, this would be the modern vaudeville album of the age, the natural successor to every Bonzos, Neil Innes, and yes, Radio Stars record you ever loved. But there isn't and many listeners unfortunately are, so this will just have to be remembered. If God really is on his lunchbreak, you know he has Martin Gordon in his iPod.