Credo is a credit to the league

The Human League’s “Credo” is a welcome return from obscurity. Having been severely disappointed by 2001’s “Secrets” (I’ve played it 3 times at most) I wasn’t expecting much following a 10 year hiatus - but “Credo” delivers some great moments. “Breaking the Chains” “Sky” and “Get Together” are really good tracks that highlight the cohesive and minimal production style of producers I Monster. The majority of tracks are well produced and interesting with some real moments of genius.

However you would have thought that Oakey would have learned. Ever since we suffered the butt clenchingly bad lyric “Before he leaves the camp he stops, He scans the world outside, and where there used to be some shops, is where the snipers sometimes hide” I have prayed for The Human League to get some help writing lyrics. Alas, “Credo” continues in the same vain as its predecessors: “”Put on your best frocks and blouses, time to go out from your houses, must we creep round like the mouses?” What????? 

Putting the lyrical clunks aside, I am really pleased that at least one electronic ‘old school’ (I refuse to pigeon hole anyone as an 80’s group) band can still make a decent record that I don’t begrudge having paid money for. Blancmange take note.

Blancmange: He's having a coffee - he wants it hot

The return of Blancmange was announced about 18 months ago. Soon after we heard excerpt of tracks they were working on from their web page: they were pretty poor and almost laughable. I dismissed them as the finger paintings of two old collaborators having fun and trying to find a way into writing something worth recording.

Imagine my surprise when I played their new album “blanc burn” to find one of the afore mentioned ‘finger paintings’ the first track on the CD. From this inauspicious start things do improve slightly, but not much. The half finished single “Drive Me” goes nowhere; “The Western” works well, but is pulled down by the tracks book ending it. Apart from “Don’t Let These Days” little else on this album deserves mention.

Blancmange have always displayed questionable quality control on their albums and I suppose “blanc burn” follows in this tradition. They aren’t being avante garde, they aren’t being clever, and they aren’t being individual. It’s just crap, and if the album dies on its arse they only have themselves to blame.