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Dec 21, 2010Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly had randy sides to them back in the 80s, and that hasn't abated.
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Sex With an X exceeds all of the expectations we didn't know we had.
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A welcome return, then – let's hope they stick around for a bit longer this time.
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Yet as delectable as the melodies are, Sex with an X seems like it's all been done before--and in fact, we know that it has.
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With much to enjoy on this collection that has preceded their goodbye it would be music's loss if this were to once again genuinely signal the end of this quirky, characterful band.
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staying true to their party platform (sex, God, kissing, etc.), songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee remain the Ramones of sunbeam, patty-cake pop--even if they sound less like awkward twentysomethings singing about cats and bikes, and more like the countless post-'90s alterna-rockers who owe them gratitude.
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Under The RadarSadly, Sex With An X feels force, and while it isn't a bad record per se, when held up to the lofty standard of such a great back discography, it just feels staid and inoffensive. [Summer 2010, p.81]
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UncutThe Vaselines were more of an idea than a reality, but this revival, with Kelly joined by founding member Frances McKee, Belle And Sebastian's Stevie Jackson and Bob Kildea, plus 1990s drummer Michael McGaughrin, shows they have finally perfected the art of being Just Dumb Enough. [Sep 2010, p.108]
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Sex with an X is proof that Kelly and McKee were right to get back together, and while they don't pick up exactly where they left off, it's close enough to make their fans, both old and new, ecstatic.
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Q MagazineThe rumble of My God's bigger Than Your God offers some respite, but can't save a disappointing return. [Oct 2010, p.121]
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MojoKurt Cobain-worshipped Glaswegians' break 20-year silence. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]
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Even those too young-or not yet born-for the Vaselines' heyday can appreciate the earnest fun of Sex With an X.
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McKee's voice may sound exactly like it did 20 years ago (the fate of most twee-pop ladies, it seems), but The Vaselines' trademark noise has only grown deeper, richer. Listening to this record just feels good on a purely physical level.
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Sex with a z – amusing but dull.
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Sex with an X is a clear case of The Vaselines boldly going where they have gone before - most of the record more than stands up to many of the nuggets in their tiny back catalog - but maybe that's okay; maybe it's better to have them as they were than to not have them at all.
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Better late than never, it's one of the moments when the Vaselines strike the right chord on a somewhat uneven effort, as they show that holding on to fond memories isn't necessarily at odds with making new ones.
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The Vaselines have upset a bit of the precarious balance between innocence and titillation that made their songs so striking the first time around.
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No one can be a teenager again, not after 20 years, and The Vaselines have lost some of the feckless charm of their earliest material. Still, as they've gotten older, they've held onto much of what made them special – the reckless fun, the gritty melodies, the taunting humor – and picked up some skills.
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Significant artistic development of any kind probably would've been a bad idea for this band-- they were, as the saying goes, small but perfectly formed. Still, it's also not quite satisfying to hear 40-year-olds come back to what they were doing half their lifetime ago and approach it exactly the same way.