CMJ New Music Report
February 26, 1993 (Issue 321)
Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians
Respect
by Steve Ciabattoni
Few notable Punk/New Wave artists from the late-'70s/early-'80s have matured very well, let alone survived. Respect shows us that the Prince Of Peculiar, Sir Robyn Hitchcock, though older; is in fact wiser and every bit as nutty, melodic, and viable an artist as when he was a debauched Soft Boy. It's not unusual that Hitchcock notes in the liners that respect is due to John Lennon (with the implication that "due to" means "a result of" as well as "to owe"). It's easy to spot Robyn's Beatles fetish on Respect (producer John Leckie encourages it), but the Lennon/Hitchcock connection goes much deeper. Robyn's influences are also Lennon's idols: from fed-head poets like Lewis Carroll to surrealists like Rene Magritte (note Robyn's own painting on the cover). And like Lennon's most "out there" work, Respect strives to create music that is effortlessly hummable while vaguely unsettling and nonsensical. "The Yip Song", for example, is a speedy little track whose memorable chorus is "Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip...". Likewise, the abstract and deviant "Wafflehead" definitely sounds like something McCartney would have rather not had on Abbey Road. Hitchcock's gift for writing beautiful, poetic songs also seems to be growing, as evidenced in the perfectly delivered "Arms Of Love", "Railway Shoes", and "The Wreck Of The Arthur Lee". You'll also want to wear out "When I Was Dead", "The Moon Inside", and "Driving Aloud (Radio Storm)".
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