★★★★★
When this Essex, England New Wave band was last in a position where it might've been considered relevant, the kids were still listening to Joy Division, Gary Numan, and Duran Duran. Lead vocalist Robbie Grey - the group's only surviving original member - has seen Modern English through modest commercial success, extended dormancy, and numerous lineup changes in its three decade run...
- www.adequacy.net
2010-06-18
★★★★★
Many supposed "one hit wonders" of the '80s and '90s, or any decade maybe, were actually musicians with a significant catalogue of music, with a story and personality beyond that one hit. Listening to band's lone hit in the context of their entire discography can be revelatory. The UK band Modern English is a case where you don't even have to go that far to understand where they were coming from...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-06-10
★★★★★
As disturbing as the thought may be, the 80's are more popular right now than they have been since, well, the 80's. Every city I've been in (and I've driven through quite a few lately) have their all 1980's radio station, playing all the songs you've forgotten and all the ones you've blocked from your memory. There is probably no better time for those bands that enjoyed their brief lives in that decade to make a comeback...
- www.adequacy.net
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Most bands that haven't recorded in four years would want toreturn with something fresh. Not Modern English. This Britishgroup ? originally punk, but more famous for three albums ofalternative pop ? is back with a cuddly new record, improbably kicked off by a remake of the 1983 song "I Melt With You," the closest the band ever came to a hit...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Do I need to tell you that "Melt With You" has been played
on the radio more than a million times? That it's one of
the single best-known songs of the eighties? A staple of
the annoying "eighties hits" format? A song we had to put
on every freaking party tape back when I was in college?
No. Of course not. But every now and then some
well-intentioned record label folks decide to remind you
that Modern English also wrote some other
songs...hence Life in the Gladhouse...
- www.splendidezine.com
2009-03-22
★★★★★
The debut album by this overlooked 4AD outfit from Colchester in Essex. In many ways, Modern English helped to define the sound and image of that pioneering label; while admittedly pretentious at times, they were also sharp-edged, intellectual, and obsessed with aestheticism. The standouts here are the title track, "Smiles and Laughter," and "Gathering Dust," an epic post-punk exercise in aural dynamics...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
This was the group's first album after re-forming around original members Robbie Grey (vocals), Mick Conroy (bass), and ex-March Violets member Aaron Davidson (guitar/keyboards), who had joined in 1986 only to see the current lineup at that time disintegrate. The trio moved to the U.S. and conjured a minor hit single with a remixed version of the portentous "I Melt With You." Older fans of the band despaired of their new, slicker variant...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
The phrase "one-hit wonder" is fraught with negative implications. On the
surface, it means that the band or artist in question had only one popular
song. But it also seems to use popularity as a gauge of artistic ability,
implying that the particular band or artist was only capable of writing one
hit...
- www.pitchforkmedia.com
2008-07-30
★★★★★
Do I need to tell you that "Melt With You" has been played
on the radio more than a million times? That it's one of
the single best-known songs of the eighties? A staple of
the annoying "eighties hits" format? A song we had to put
on every freaking party tape back when I was in college?
No. Of course not. But every now and then some
well-intentioned record label folks decide to remind you
that Modern English also wrote some other
songs...hence Life in the Gladhouse...
- www.splendidezine.com
2008-07-16
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