Tindersticks’ self-titled debut is a minor masterpiece of brooding, muted anguish, a whiskey-soaked, carnival-meets-barroom blues gem. In a drearily slurred and mumbled delivery, vocalist Stuart Staples paints a picture of a man wallowing in the ruins of a failed relationship, mired in an oppressive urban quagmire, perseverating on his failure and guilt and loss and regret. And the music—rock instrumentation adorned most notably by Dickon Hinchliffe’s ever-present violin—evokes the sentiment perfectly. The album feels like nothing else of its time, a truly unique, dark enchantment.
Here’s a little Tindersticks to trouble your soul.
Playlist 1
Playlist One presents a condensed version (53 minutes) of their excellent debut.
Playlist 2
Tindersticks’ sophomore release (1995) was a big disappointment for me. It got rave reviews, yet when I listened I heard a pale imitation of their debut, with none of the spark or the anguish. Blah. Coming back to it now, I generally agree. Their thirds album, Curtains (1997), was quite a bit better, although still not on the same level as the debut.
The “better” Staples technically sings, the more his crooning starts to tickle my kitsch-o-meter, especially when he lays on the vibrato. I almost prefer him when he groaned and mumbled like a lovesick drunk. Hinchliffe’s arrangements, on the other hand, seem to be getting even more skillfully luxuriant, especially on Curtains. (I loved how discordant they were for their debut, but they achieve a different, cleaner type of splendor here that is quite effective.)
Playlist Two highlights these two releases. In the end, I quite like the selections I’ve managed to scrape together to highlight their next two releases.
Cover Art:
- Tindersticks: Source, Discogs.com, Fair use.
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