• Newsletter Sign up
• Subscribe
• Back Issues
• Sample Issue
• Contact Us

Texas

From page 75 of Classic Rock Magazine January 2004

Cover of January 2004 issue.

‘Careful What You Wish For’ (Mercury)

Formed in 1986, Glasgow’s Texas have survived well. Their recent massive- selling albums ‘White On Blonde’ and ‘The Hush’ hybridised dance music with their trademark jangly soul tunes. But does their new ‘Careful What You Wish For’ represent a new direction too far?

Opener ‘Telephone X’ is a jolly enough attempt at Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s stomping grind, but unfortunately lacking in grit. That trend that continues all through this recording: ‘Under Your Skin’ recalls The Cardigans covering Blondie; ‘Carousel Dub’ sounds like Simply Red doing a Garbage B-side. The single ‘Carnival Girl’ is one of many tracks that attempts to crowbar dancehall and dub into Texas’s adult pop sound, but they sit uneasily with the sweet harmonies and wishy-washy guitars.

Texas used to do a nice line in Caledonian blue-eyed soul, one that can still be heard on the album’s best track, ‘Big Sleep’. By trying to always predict the next direction, they have lost their distinctive path. And that has left them in a constantly shifting, bland landscape and a sorry state.

★★★ ★★ Mark Norton