:: The Streets - Computers And Blues

The Streets

There is no middle ground with The Streets. People either absolutely love Mike Skinner’s unique vocals or they compare them to nails on a blackboard. For the lovers of The Streets however, Computers And Blues sees the end of an era. Skinner has made it quite clear that this will be the last Streets album… and after taking a listen you certainly have to admit that they go out with a bang. Computers And Blues is easily the best album from their discography. Opening track “Outside Inside” shows where the Computer part of the album’s title comes from as it reveals early on that this is an album with a heavy computerised electronic basis. It then gives way to the first single from Computers And Blues, the brilliant “Going Through Hell” which also features the work of The Music’s Robert Harvey. This is a brilliant track that needs to be remembered when they are handing out Songs Of The Year gongs. “Roof Of The Car” sees The Streets produce another truly memorable chorus while creating a great ‘first date’ track while the melody of “Puzzled By People” means it will be rolling around in your head for ages after you’ve listened to it. The same could be said for “Without Thinking” which consists of a Boogie Pimps style of sound and is made catchy by Sharlene Hector’s terrific vocals.

“Blip On The Screen” is guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye of any new Dad’s listening, but it’s thought-provoking mellowness quickly gives way to the short-and-sweet “Those That Don’t Know”. Robert Harvey returns for one of the best Streets’ songs of all time, the terrific “Soldiers”… a track that you will want to keep listening to over and over. Harvey also sticks around for “We Can Never Be Friends”… yet another great track that has lyrics so smooth that sound like poetry. Laura Vine introduces a terrific R&B style to both “OMG” and “Trying To Kill Me” (the latter also sounding like a song Lily Allen would have loved to get her hands on). “Trust Me” sees Mike Skinner return to some heartfelt vocals and then the album closes with “Lock The Locks” (feat Claire Maguire) that is ironically a track about Skinner handing in his notice. And so it seems that is it for The Streets and while Mike Skinner has been promising a new project really soon it is hard to imagine that he will release anything that is good as Computers And Blues. This has to be one of the albums of the year.