The Record
September 20, 1996
Flighty, But Faithful To His Muse
Robyn Hitchcock, Moss Elixir (Warner Bros.; Running Time: 48:47, 12 Tracks)
by Jerry DeMarco
After more than 20 years and almost as many albums, Robyn Hitchcock remains the fey, oddball sort, possessed of what he calls his own "wacky aesthetic".
Quirky, kooky, harebrained -- pick your descriptive. But don't say Hitchcock isn't fun.
The British cult hero peddles more of his idiosyncratic tonic on Moss Elixir. Without his longtime backing band, The Egyptians, Hitchcock opts for a Spartan Folk sound, built around his distinctive, Bowiesque voice, and the guitar -- augmented in snatches by a stray violin, saxophone, or cello.
That's not to say Moss Elixir is typically "unplugged".
"Heliotrope" and "Filthy Bird" are virtual demos -- campfire songs, really -- ruled by acoustic guitar. But "Beautiful Queen" steams with languid, lounge-like Psychedelia, and the electrified "I Am Not Me" throbs with a tension that threatens to blow it into a Rock anthem.
Prosaic Guitar Pop has created few modern-day superstars. It's no different for Hitchcock, who's a household name only if you live with a Rock critic or one of the members of R.E.M. (his biggest Stateside supporters). Still, the co-founder of the legendary Punk band The Soft Boys has ridden out the trends -- as documented by a series of reissues by Rhino Records and an A&M compilation due in stores this month. Like Neil Young, Hitchcock is a prolific melody-maker who hasn't abandoned his muse.
It's those melodies that keep you trying to figure out what Robyn is talking about. On Moss Elixir, the lyrics spill like overheard talk ("Something about you/You and oblivion"), the impressionist topics often as elusive as the images of birds, lions, and other creatures that flit through the songs. Even the simplest love songs aren't what they seem.
The prism twists, with phrases like: "The shadow follows her/It looks like a seven", and "Your paranoia makes her smile".
Perhaps Hitchcock best explains his technique on the Lloyd-Cole-meets-the-Cure potential single, "Alright, Yeah", when he sings: "Everything's inside another".
Bent Pop? Sure, but it's great fun. When he compares a "sinister but happy" woman who both attracts and repels him to a "chandelier festooned with leeches", you get the picture. And who couldn't love a guy who rhymes "darlin'" with "Stalin"?
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