New Order - "Brotherhood" NME Review

NME - ART OF THE STATE

NEW ORDER
Brotherhood (Factory)

PRAY SILENCE for the thinking person's Andrew Ridgeley: “You look like a pig/You should be in a (heh, heh) zoo (heh, heh)!” 

This is a wonderful LP made by very silly people. It comes complete with the stereo horseplay of vocalist Barney making stupid noises - a strangely diffident clown making this glorious hullaballoo sound so easy

They could have taken it further. It seems that previous working titles for the record were 'Fuck' and 'The Smell Of It'. Boys will be boys . . . poor Gillian. 'Brotherhood' is the title of a book exposing freemasons. Two years later, the author dropped dead. Funny thing, life.

'Brotherhood' swings in a more blither fashion than the sulky 'Low-Life'. 'Paradise' bowls you over in the way that the Stones’ 'Miss You' should have done. Barney proves to be a man of many voices, and amidst these borrowed manners it sounds odd to hear him impersonating himself. On 'Paradise' he gruffly tiptoes along, shadowed by a teetering falsetto, luring you into New Order’s grandoise acoustic shimmy. The incandescence continues through the Big Country-esque 'Weirdo' and 'As It Was When It Was'. Try saying that after a can of shandy.

The slack-jawed, camp counterpoint of 'Broken Promises' prolongs the shoulder-shaking spectacular, with something approaching an electric kazoo break rupturing the groove. 'Way Of Life' is 'Love Vigilantes' fed through a West Coast machine.

The single 'State Of The Nation’ (not included) is...a throwaway piece, a typical dancefloor polisher which misrepresents the mood of the group at the moment. 'All Day Long' is more typical, with stately flourishes of organ bursting in. One's thoughts may turn to Men Without Hats, but these will then be bludgeoned by New Order mischeviously turning in an ELP tribute.

Playing 'Angel Dust' you suddenly realise what a bloody racket they make. Whilst the rest of the synthesised world is busily stripping everything down to a mere skeleton of brute force, New Order keep piling on the sound. Amidst an orgy of clattering and burgeoning keyboards, a guitar can be heard resolutely forcing its way through the sonic jungle. A disembodied soprano howls, veiled by the resulting harmonics. This is doubtlessly private joke time. They've probably miked up their whoopee cushions too. As the stylus ploughs round the grooves, hidden sachets of sneezing powder are being liberated from their vinyl prison.

Their fabby 'Sub-Culture' is echoed in 'Bizarre Love Triangle' (Whaaat!?), spangled, celestial string sequences shrouding our heroes as they re-introduce us to the lost joys of Candlewick Green and Jigsaw.

We all have our favourite moments. Although 'Broken Promises' is very much the work of New Order and should be treasured as such, 'Every Little Counts' is very tempting. Beginning with a curtsey in the direction of 'Walk On The Wild Side', Barney alarmingly becomes Lou Reed singing 'Groovy Kind Of Love' and has a giggling fit. Charming - I think.

Cath Carroll