Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/09/1998
Run Time: 47:04
Duke showcased a new
Genesis -- a sleek, hard, stylish trio that truly sounded like a different band from its first incarnation -- but
Abacab was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own. Working once again with producer
Hugh Padgham, the group escalated the innovations of
Duke, increasing the
pop hooks, working them seamlessly into the artiest
rock here. And even if the brash, glorious
pop of
"No Reply at All" -- powered by the percolating horns of
Earth, Wind & Fire, yet polished into a precise piece of nearly
new wave pop by
Padgham -- suggests otherwise, this is still
art rock at its core, or at least
album-oriented rock, as the band works serious syncopations and instrumental forays into a sound that's as bright, bold, and jagged as the modernist artwork on the cover. They dabble in other genres, lacing
"Me and Sarah Jane" with a
reggae beat, for instance, which often adds dimension to their sound, as when
"Dodo" rides a hard
funk beat and greasy organ synths yet doesn't become obvious; it turns inward, requiring active listening. Truly, only
"No Reply at All," the rampaging title track (possibly their hardest-rocking song to date), and the sleek and spooky
"Man on the Corner" (which hides a real melancholy heart underneath its glistening surface) are immediate and accessible -- although the Mockney jokes of
"Who Dunnit?" could count, it's too much of a geeky
novelty to be
pop. The rest of
Abacab is truly modern
art rock, their last album that could bear that tag comfortably.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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