I need no protection from my bulletproof plan

KT Tunstall: Drastic Fantastic

Pop, as a beverage, is fizzy, bubbly, sticky-sweet, and while it has its connoisseurs as does anything, personal taste is something of an arbitrary designation. Certain qualities are a given, as are certain deficiencies.

KT Tunstall had a pretty big, marginally bothersome hit single called “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” that made her debut a sleeper phenomenon. The album itself, Eye to the Telescope, despite the single, was a perfectly decent folk-pop outing that was easily the most charming thing I had to listen to on rotation in the department store I was working in at the time, even if I’d be hard pressed to name any song on it apart from that single.

Despite what the cover image promised (or threatened), Drastic Fantastic is pretty much a second helping of same. Personally, I was quite intrigued by the idea that here she was in black and white mod gear, strapping on her electric guitar and taking her newfound success into sharp rock and roll territory. She certainly has a strong voice for singing some good ol’ soul-inflected rock a la classic Rolling Stones. Alas, nothing of the sort, but once again it is a charming, amicable pop album, perhaps somewhat rocked-up.

The primary trouble with Drastic Fantastic is one that plagues so many pop albums: the strange obviousness of the singles. One listen to this will tell you that “Hold On” and “Saving My Face” are earmarked as singles, although both are rather better than that aforementioned hit single from the previous album. The hidden gem is the slow, vast-sounding “Beauty of Uncertainty” with a gorgeous climax, perhaps her best song to date. “Little Favours” is the closest she comes to a big rock song, but it feels a bit forced and overly syrupy in execution. “Funnyman” has a nice combination of ragged garage guitars, kick-drums, and organ, with a bouncy acoustic folk guitar part. “I Don’t Want You Now” has a bit more push and energy than the rest, even if lyrically it seems a bit stock.

I’ll stick with my Tangueray, though.

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~ by jshopa on October 11, 2008.