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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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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.
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Sex With an X exceeds all of the expectations we didn't know we had.
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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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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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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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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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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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A welcome return, then – let's hope they stick around for a bit longer this time.
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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.