The Warlocks, "Surgery"

Add the Warlocks to the list of "Bands Who Made a Great Album That I Didn't Think They Had In Them". Even Spacemen 3's "Sound of Confusion", which is their best album, starts to grate on the nerves when listening to the seventy-minute CD version (containing the "Walking With Jesus" single as well as the proper album). How many two-chord jams in a row do you really need to hear?

"Surgery" moves away from the treble-heavy, jam-it-out approach of their past albums, in favour of a more 80's Jesus and Mary Chain + 60's Girl Groups approach (well OK, the JAMC already had the girl group element, but the Warlocks don't/can't explode the 60's with a treble bomb as heavy as "You Trip Me Up" ("It's Just Like Surgery" kinda tries, right down to using the same chord progression), instead, they go full swoon ahead, pianos and all -- witness "Angels in Heaven, Angels in Hell" and "Evil Eyes Again"). Sweet, anthemic melodies explode from the speakers, and for once, the singing actually conveys depth and emotion rather than merely acting as an accessory to the surrounding din.