Written by: Dave Cantrell
Amid the dull chaos that is, as it its wont, making its usual droll mockery of our so-called ‘modern world,’ it is beyond gratifying to encounter a song that brings what we all crave – which is to say that precisely mixed dose of sublime pop soul and sneaky irresistibility – into our ears where it subsequently nestles into our hearts with a warm assured glow that’s the musical equivalent of falling in love. Exaggeration? No, it isn’t. It is, in fact, exactly the path music, if and when we’re lucky, takes us, and it’s especially gratifying when it arrives from a long-beloved source as is the case today.
For the edification of those that may very well be too young to have lived it, the lat 80s early 90s were a remarkably fecund period for ‘rock’ music (that ‘R’ word pretty much always requires those singular inverted commas since it by now encompasses such a vast spectrum as to be inevitably inadequate but, well, it’s the only word that works). From Suede to Pulp to Manic Street Preachers to Th’Faith Healers to Sonic Youth and a thousand more and, yes, you’re right, that quick list does lean a bit Brit-heavy but then again of course it does as that’s where the most engagingly irresistible wave was flowing from during those years and snugged deeply inside said wave – and happened to be this listener’s favorite – was the Pete Fij-led, accurately-named Adorable.
While extant for a mere three-plus years (1991-1994, basically; click that link for their brief but essential discography), there was something intuitively pop genius-like to their sound that seemed to flood one’s synapses with an effortless élan as if it was the subtly brilliant visitor your heart had been waiting for for yonks, their debut – and only – LP Against Perfection landing not just on many 1993 best-of lists but often topping it as it did mine, which is quite the statement given what an embarrassment-of-riches year that was. So, fast forward…
…it’s 2026, some thirty-three (and a third?) years later and imagine your correspondent’s delight to find a new single from from Pete in his inbox late last month. It’s not dissimilar, I should think, to waking up to find you’re suddenly young again, the world is once again swirling with ingenious, intuitively brilliant pop nous and for however short a spell eternal life presents itself, if only for four-and-a-half minutes, as a real possibility. And if that, being an accurate accounting of this listener’s experience, isn’t enough to spark your curiosity, well, you’re reading the wrong magazine. Writers/listeners/music-addicts such as those that populate the SEM office (which isn’t to mention our readers) live for those few records that make us swoon and this one, coming from the artist it’s coming from and everything they’ve contributed to our ‘swoon history,’ marks this as a banner day. Thank you, Pete… [please see below for the track’s background from the artist himself; it’s nothing less than essential]
Find/purchase “Cuckoo” here.
