CD Revue: Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines

Back in 2002, when I heard that guitarist Graham Coxon had left or been fired from Blur my heart sank. The Blur I knew and loved appeared to be no more. How could Blur be good without Graham? But when Think Tank came out last year, I was pleasantly surprised Blur was still excellent Graham or no Graham. Maybe Graham wasn't that important after all? Then Graham goes and puts out the great lost Brit Pop album! Maybe he is the real genius of Blur? It's like he's channeling 1995. "Freakin' Out" has to be one of the catchiest singles of the year. "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery" is a typical Coxon Blur song but with better lyrics. And "Bottom Bunk" is a weird Kinks-like song that I think is about self-pleasure. All and all it is as good as anything Blur has done since The Great Escape and is one of the best albums of the year.