Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

Certain Songs #952: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “Hey Rusty”

August 4, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mainstream
Year: 1987

One of the reasons I loved Mainstream so much in the summer of 1988 was that it was the perfect album to put on at 2:00 in the morning when you was alone and depressed and trying desperately not to call the person you still had feelings for because you were trying to be oh so strong and you can feel your resolve weakening and collapsing in the face of your impending insomnia.

Or so it seemed. In any event, “Hey Rusty” was the story of why that phone call probably shouldn’t be made.

Certain Songs #951: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “Mr. Malcontent”

August 3, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mainstream
Year: 1987

A waste of space and alcohol.

What an utterly cutting and amazing insult that is. And it’s just one of of the many many reasons that “Mr. Malcontent” is my favorite Lloyd Cole song.

The spring and summer of 1988 has always been officially one of the worst periods of my life, as I was dealing with a myriad of weirdness. I had a relationship and a band both end, for somewhat related reasons; I was struggling to deal with increased responsibility at my job; I was living completely alone for the first time ever.

Certain Songs #949: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “Lost Weekend”

August 1, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Easy Pieces
Year: 1985

The other great single from Easy Pieces, “Lost Weekend” was a bouncy, will o’the wisp of a song that rides a jaunty Neil Clark guitar part and over compensating lead vocals from Lloyd Cole to try and mask what was a pretty dark set of lyrics.

That’s actually one of my favorite tricks of course — the song that tries to hide its true intentions behind a mask of cheerfulness. But of course, the second you pay attention to the words, it’s a completely different story.

Certain Songs #944: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “Perfect Skin”

July 27, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Rattlesnakes
Year: 1984

Perhaps the definitive college rock album of the mid-1980s, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions’ Rattlesnakes was an absolute utter favorite in my burgeoning social circle in 1985. While some folks found the obliqueness of R.E.M.’s frontman too distancing and the whinging of The Smiths’ frontman a too annoying, then Lloyd Cole’s songs about his various romantic entanglements other young smart people hit the mark time after time after time.

And Neil Clark’s insanely catchy jangly guitar hooks didn’t hurt either.