Various Hallam Foe
As much an original soundtrack as it is a freshly packaged Domino Records compilation, Hallam […]
As much an original soundtrack as it is a freshly packaged Domino Records compilation, Hallam Foe lives and dies by that label roster’s troughs and peaks. While many of Domino’s recent memorable releases have come from Glaswegian assassins Franz Ferdinand, here they deliver the titular “Hallam Dandelion Blow,” a defanged acoustic cut that lacks the pop pyrotechnics one might expect. On the other hand, their post-punk predecessors, Orange Juice, open the album with “Blue Boy,” a three-minute Telecaster symphony that stacks up with, if not eclipses, some of the band’s best tracks. While Junior Boys feel oddly out of place here, U.N.P.O.C. reign supreme. So it goes.