Malcolm Middleton
Waxing Gibbous
Release Date: Aug 11, 2009
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Full Time Hobby
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Album Review: Waxing Gibbous by Malcolm Middleton
Great, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Malcolm Middleton's 2009 album starts with a brisk as heck guitar rush of a song, "Red Travellin' Socks," which only seems appropriate for a musician who's appeared to have had endless energy to burn over the years in and out of Arab Strap. (And as is only appropriate, the song is all about hating said socks because they're all about travel and being away from his girlfriend. ) With that as a killer start, Middleton and company burn through a set of excellent songs with confidence, ranging from other quick-as-hell rundowns to calm reflection.
Based on rating 6.9/10
Sloppy reading led me to wonder (for longer than I should admit) why Malcolm Middleton would name his fifth solo album for ape hair-removal. The former Arab Strap multi-instrumentalist is known for his black, oddball sense of humor-- his 2007 Christmas single was called "We're All Going to Die"-- but figuring out how a bald gibbon would play into the personal themes of his songwriting was both intriguing and maddening. Luckily (or sadly, depending on your point of view) the collection is actually called Waxing Gibbous, a phrase that refers to a more-than-half-full phase of the moon and has nothing at all to do with zoo animals.
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