Placebo vs The Wedding Present

I've just been reviewing the new Placebo album for JMag. Three and a half stars, if there are any Q Magazine readers out there.

It's their first one without Steve Hewitt - their drummer who once revealed how much he used to hate me. "I saw you walk into the Pavilion [a venue in Brighton, England] and it seemed like every single person knew who you were," he stated. Man, how times have changed. The last time I met the band, in Melbourne 2000, Brian Molko and I sang a bawdy, X-rated version of Queen's 'We  Will Rock You' to each other, and I ended up sleeping in a ditch, in homage to John Steinbeck. Whatever. I recall that Brian came off much worse - the night we spent together started him off on a fresh hedonism jag that resulted in the band cancelling their Reading Festival appearance a week later, citing 'illness'.

I haven't kept too close a watch on Placebo over the years, but have retained a fondness for their stadium rock narcissism that might surprise those who know my tastes - I have a personal interest, y' see (that stretches far beyond the fan/slasher fiction involving myself and Molko in a tawdry threesome). Charlotte used to do a great impersonation of Molko talking to Dave Grohl backstage at David Bowie's 50th Birthday Party - I interviewed the pair for Melody Maker back when it thought it was the indie Smash Hits - based on a couple of early morning phone messages Brian left for us in Brighton.

But I also think the reason for my fondness for Placebo  is partly because, try as they might with their salacious and wantonly depraved lyrics, their music reminds me of a slightly more corporate (i.e. polished) take on The Wedding Present - Molko supplying the yin to David Gedge's yang, if you will. There's little to separate a song like 'Bright Lights' on Placebo's new album Battle For The Sun from anything on that fine Wedding Present post-reformation album, 2005's Take Fountain... um, except that I vastly prefer Steve Fisk's analogue keyboard-drenched production (far more resonant and intricate, but I guess you need to make sacrifices if you want those lighters to wave) and Gedge's melancholia-drenched words.

Really, I'm talking about the guitars.

Whatever. (You might want to check out this link to Turkish magazine Bant for more on The Wedding Present. The article is written in English.)

The photo you see at the top of this entry is of Daniel Snazell Thackray, born with a full head of hair, 9lbs 1/2oz in Royal Brisbane And Women's Hospital, 2.39am, 28 May 2009. Mother and baby doing great.