Lloyd Cole and The Commotions
Rattlesnakes

THE REVIEW

We are deep in the New Wave period, and finding such a unique masterpiece called “Rattlesnakes” is no small feat. Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, on their first release, hit the perfect bullseye!
Lloyd, a big guy with a distinctive beauty, penetrating gaze, eyes full of soul, full of cultural interests, and with a voice, clear, sweet, elegant... in short, a charismatic artist. Just listen to “Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?” to understand how much talent pervades in this album marked by a refined eclectic personality, indeed his lyrics are filled with poetry, literature, and theatrically real, they fascinate you, distracting you from what was the listening trend of the '80s, taking you to a phase of temporary detachment that, after 22 years (indeed, it was 1984) still endures, without the ravages of time.

There are 10 tracks, completely perfect, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, keyboards, drums and tambourines, but above all that wonderful performing voice of the pixie Lloyd. Soft, folk, high-quality sound performer, of musical lyrics, in subsequent albums with The Commotions, they will not have such repetition, in a way one will have to wait for the self-titled solo album, "Lloyd Cole", but much more rhythmic and quite fantastic!
“Rattlesnakes” manages with ease to face its originality outside of any schema, indeed the feedback and result was the excellent success also obtained beyond the British country. There are songs like “Patience”, “Rattlesnakes”, “Forest Fire” or “Perfect Skin” that are uniquely beautiful, thoughtful, balanced, with a caressing floating sweetness.

When I listen to their songs, I feel like walking through my Milan on a November afternoon, with the thick fog, holding my best friend's hand, going through all the big music stores, and there, immerse ourselves in our daily bread, and then throw ourselves back into the damp, cold fog, and travel without a destination on the metro, and then treat ourselves to a big portion of fries at McDonald's, but they also make me think of the sunrise and the first warm rays of light penetrating that mist covering the entire countryside giving you a sense of maternal womb, and I already see now when I come to Milan for work.
In short, these are personal feelings you feel inside, and this is what their music conveys to me.
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, and Lloyd Cole deserve to be listened to and to get recognition for having given an unbeatable musical positivity in their genre.
What can I tell you... if you have shelved, archived, or maybe never bought it, then give it a thought, it's worth bringing it back or getting it in your hands.