Modern Life Is Rubbish
Until this album, Blur was just another English dance-pop band recycling  '60s guitar licks and that tired Manchester beat (dugga-dugga-cha, dugga-dugga- dugga-cha). ButModern Life is Rubbishturned out to be the weirdest and  most endearing head-rock album since the Flaming Lips'Transmissions from the  Satellite Heart. The 17 songs revel in strange chord changes, bizarre sound  effects, off-kilter beats, gonzo lyrics, and English eccentricity, bringing to  mind Ray Davies, Syd Barrett, and Julian Cope jamming together under the  influence of what Blur calls the "Chemical World." Songs like  "Colin Zeal," "Pressure on Julian," and "Sunday  Sunday" boast killer hooks amid the chaos, makingModern Life Is  Rubbishvaluable trash indeed.--Jim DeRogatis