The Vaselines/ Sex With An X

The Vaselines
Sex With An X
(Sub Pop)

The Vaselines have spent twenty years making this album. Twenty years! That's not to say they've been recording one bass note a week however: the band spilt up in 1989 after recording two singles and one album. Soon after, the Glaswegians found their profile being boosted by Nirvana, not least because Kurt named his baby after guitarist Frances, and covered three of their tunes. All of a sudden, '90s street punks everywhere were asking: "where the hell can I get me some Vaseline?"
The answer has finally arrived in 2010: 'Sex With An X' marks their long awaited return, and with a little help from Belle and Sebastian and 1990s to top up the band members, they've made a great success of it too.
Far from sounding like grunge, the record is actually a confident (but not twee) indie-pop collection, with the two integral band members Frances and Eugene sounding not unlike Slow Club after a few more used condoms and a dollop of hair gel.
After the garage rock race through the night of 'Ruined', the record's themes get established: 'Sex With An X' and 'Turning It On' could be romantic barnyard dances, while 'The Devil Inside Me' brings John And Jehn to mind - it's a surreal and erotic slice of 1950s supernaturalism. The fantastically titled 'I Hate The 80s' shares a similarity with the Pixies at their most pop (think 'Here Comes Your Man'), and features the simple but amusing chorus: "I hate the '80s, 'cos the '80s were shit". You have been told.
In between all this there are huge choruses, sexual demands, rockabilly interludes... and evidence of a band still strangely in their prime despite a 20-year UFO abduction. How's that for a slick re-entry?