"She's So High"
and
"There's No Other Way"
were auspicious debut singles, alternately trancy and melodic, suggesting how shoegazing and baggy beats could be incorporated into pop song structures. Both songs suggested that
Blur
was capable of a striking debut album, but
Leisure
wasn't it. Mired by directionless soundscapes and incomplete songwriting,
was nevertheless full of promise. Whenever the group tread close to the warped psychedelia of
Syd Barrett
, their compositions sprang to life, and
"Sing"
was an eerie, entrancing minor-key drone reminiscent of
the Velvet Underground
's
"Venus in Furs."
Those moments, however, were few and far between on
, since much of the record was devoted to either naive pop like
"Bang"
or washes of feedback and effects. From
, it appeared that
was only capable of a pair of fine singles, which is what made the complete reinvention of
Modern Life Is Rubbish
such a surprise. [For the American release of
,
SBK Records
lopped off one of the album's best songs,
"Sing,"
and shuffled the running order for no apparent reason other than having
appear first.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine