It's not often someone gets rid of the tiny bald singer and actually becomes less successful. The grisly last incarnation of Genesis springs to mind - them, and Brave Captain, the name adopted by Martin Carr after The Boo Radleys dissolved a couple of years back.
In truth, Carr appears more relieved than worried by the fact he's unlikely to reach the dubious heights of 'Wake Up Boo!' again. Looking like one of Grandaddy in his wooly cap and matching beard, Carr - now singing as well as playing guitar - is plainly enjoying the freedom to pursue his tetchy psychedelic muse without being distracted by the pressure of churning out indie chartbusters.
Backed by members of Derrero (long-time collaborators with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci), Carr's new Brave Captain songs are looser, wilder, occasionally in the neighbourhood of free jazz, and often rather like a more humane version of early Mercury Rev.
And good, too. New single 'Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation' is a typically ecstatic mess of ideas, broadly resembling 'Kick Out The Jams' as played by Super Furry Animals, and Carr is even good-natured enough to have a crack at the Boos' 'Lazarus', slowing it down to a wistful country amble.
Lowgold aren't quite such a heady, multi-faceted experience. There's something fundamentally decent about their staunchly emoted songs, the way they craft a kind of cruising-speed AOR out of lo-fi influences (notably Sebadoh and Elliott Smith), that's touching rather than transcendent.
If that all seems damning, it isn't meant that way: Lowgold (mainly from their 'Just Backwards Of Square' debut) have a reliability, a knack of consistently hitting the spot, that most young British bands would kill for. And in 'Out Of Reach' and 'In Amber' they have a couple of exceptional ones, beautifully realised blends of chiming guitars and yearning vocals from Darren Ford.
It's then that you remember how early it is in their career, how much potential Ford has as a songwriter, and how earnestly you hope he'll have his set filled with tunes all as good in a couple of years, rather than nondescript sub-Fanclub filler like 'Counterfeit'. At the moment, they're fine artisans rather than true artists: you can depend on Lowgold to make you a really good chair. In the long run, though, you'd rather they painted a masterpiece.
