Artrocker’s verdict on Blur’s ‘Fool’s Day’

Blur
Fool's Day
(Record Store Day Free Download)

Of all the records released on Record Store Day, probably the most eagerly anticipated was the limited (1000 copies) single sided 7” of the first new song by Blur since ‘Battery In Your Leg’ from 2003’s Think Tank. ‘Fool’s Day’ was deemed so important that it even made the TV news headlines and a quick shifty on a well known auction site yesterday showed the record changing hands for as much as £200. It’s great thing that a band like Blur can take the time out to record a song in aid of Record Store Day but how does it stand up, it is any good or are Damon and the boys playing an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke on the nation?

Starting with a fairly slow drum intro it sounds like it’s going to build up until it explodes in a classic Blur pop song with a similar pace to ‘Song 2’, well that at least is what I’d hoped would happen. In reality it stays at that tempo for the entirety of the song. Seemingly written and recorded on April Fool’s Day, the song appears to be about what had happened in Damon’s day so far. Lyrically it’s a bit like the essay your English teacher got you write about what you did over the weekend, the trouble is you would have been about 11 years old. Add a slow simple but irritating melody which leaves Damon struggling to accommodate some of the lyrics, and you’re left with a very simple half-arsed sounding song. Graham and Alex are left with virtually nothing to do and the drumbeat was something Dave could have knocked out in his sleep. Ultimately not worth the wait (or £200!), which is a shame because we know that Blur are capable of so much more.

‘Fool’s Day’ is available as a free download from www.blur.co.uk