The Charlatans

You Cross My Path (Cooking Vinyl)

Shouldn’t there be a Charlatans tribute band by now, possibly dubbed the Snake Oil Salesmen or the Band That Would Not Die That Was Not Oasis? Whoops, not necessary: This 10th studio album from the Norwich, England, Brit-psychers pulls double duty as its own tribute LP, layering the best bits of L.A.-based frontman Tim Burgess’ vast back catalog of emotionally disconnected couplets atop the band’s trademark soaring keyboards and insistently hummable guitars. The titular single reflects Burgess’ ongoing friendship/collaborations with the Chemical Brothers, opening with a acidy barrage of electro before segueing into more familiar, Pacific Coast Highway rock-out territory, while “The Misbegotten” sounds straight off their 1995 classic, The Charlatans UK. And shiny, unhappy uptempo downer “Bad Days” is an overproduced pop-rock masterpiece of some kind, misery wrapped in treacle. Almost two decades on, and the Charlatans apparently still can’t fake it. Huzzah! Sob.

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This article appears in September 5 • 2008.

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