Morrissey — Swords

Swords

Polydor/Universal

Aaron Brophy (CHARTattack)

11/12/2009 5:05pm

Morrissey has always remained devoted to the concept of compiling and releasing b-sides throughout his career and Swords, his latest, takes songs from the last five years. The 18 tracks here are culled from You Are The Quarry, Ringleader Of The Tormentors and Years Of Refusal singles and oscillate wildly in quality.

Fashionista tribute "Christian Dior," the flip to "In The Future When All's Well," is one of the most ridiculous and embarrassing songs in his canon. Likewise, the ambient noise experiment of "Sweetie-Pie" is turf nobody really wants our grumpy old man to adventure in.

Further bummers are the songs that revisit already well-worn Moz themes. The guitars are tougher than The Smiths days but the impact is weaker when déjà vu kicks in to make you realize "Good Looking Man About Town" is a surrogate "This Charming Man" and "Children In Pieces" is "The Headmaster Ritual Pt. II." The origin of "Ganglord," meanwhile, trails behind the romancing-the-crime album You Are The Quarry by two years and suffers because of its Johnny-come-lately status.

There's still much good, though. "Friday Mourning," a version of which was also recorded by Nancy Sinatra, remains amongst his most majestic pieces and will live on long in his catalogue. "If You Don't Like Me, Then Don't Look At Me" is Morrissey at his magical, sloganeering best and "It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small" could easily fit on his North American breakthrough album, 1992's Your Arsenal.

"Munich Air Disaster 1958" and "Teenage Dad On His Estate" are insidiously catchy, too, but it's the ba-da-bap-bum outro of "My Dearest Lord" that's the sort of song that could close a set and leave a crowd singing in the halls long after the house lights have gone up and the winners and losers have been determined in the fights for the T-shirts Moz has thrown into the crowd.

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