Though ‘historic’ in being the first album of his career as a singing frontman, for those who have bothered to follow Marr’s career, Boomslang isn’t so extreme a manoeuvre?there was, after all, Electronic’s underrated 1999 swansong Twisted Tenderness, not to mention his ubiquitous moonlighting with the likes of Oasis.
“The Last Ride” and “Bangin’ On” are the sound of a man who, by this late hour, has more than earned his right to rock out, audibly energised by the handiwork of his apprentices (Gallagher Snr especially).
Most rewarding, though, are the serene “Something To Shout About” and the cascading “Down On The Corner”: respectively, the No 1 smash Electronic should have had and the massive hit a reformed Smiths still could. Well, a boy can dream.