Here Comes the City

The new Go-Betweens album Oceans Apart, their third since reuniting in 1999, is released on LoMax Records the first week of April. You can watch the video of "Here Comes the City" on the label's website. The song adheres to the structures that leaders Robert Forster and Grant McLennan established on their previous comeback albums: unobtrusive acoustic/electric strumming, mild-mannered singing, unexpected lyrics (here it's Forster namechecking Dostoevsky in a way that's funny and unpretentious). What's a shock - besides how infectious the melody is - is the rhythm is for once propulsive; the Go-Be's haven't swung this confidently since 1987's Tallulah. By now their devotion to the pop song transcends their by-now considerable craft: McLennan's romantic plaints and Forster's droll reflections on middle age reassure us like conversations with old friends. Here's hoping that, I don't know, the Shins or the Wrens or Fountains of Wayne record music this rich when they reach their late forties.

If you still haven't bought a Go-Betweens album, the last three from their golden age (1983-1989) were just rereleased in November. Here's my review.

As for the video, check how adeptly Forster channels Bryan Ferry, down to the mincing and sartorial panache. All he's missing is a plumed hat.