Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish Lyrics

Until this album, Blur was just another English dance-pop band recycling '60s guitar licks and that tired Manchester beat (dugga-dugga-cha, dugga-dugga- dugga-cha). But Modern Life is Rubbish turned out to be the weirdest and most endearing head-rock album since the Flaming Lips' Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. The 17 songs revel in strange chord changes, bizarre sound effects, off-kilter beats, gonzo lyrics, and English eccentricity, bringing to mind Ray Davies, Syd Barrett, and Julian Cope jamming together under the influence of what Blur calls the "Chemical World." Songs like "Colin Zeal," "Pressure on Julian," and "Sunday Sunday" boast killer hooks amid the chaos, making Modern Life Is Rubbish valuable trash indeed. --Jim DeRogatis