British singer-songwriter Kevin Coyne is one of those artists whose music evades all sense of time. Over three decades, tunes like "Marjory Razor Blade" and "Saviour" have added a charming, eccentric (and occasionally maniacal) twist to blues, folk, and rock.
In a near brush with fame, Coyne was one of the first artists to be signed to Virgin Records (along with Mike Oldfield) and was reportedly asked by then-Elektra prez Jac Holzman to join the Doors after Jim Morrison's death. Living in Germany since 1985, Coyne's 36th release (his first available domestically in some time) is a treasure trove of songs that rummage through familiar territory. As usual, the tunes are odd, conversational snapshots of life (as seen through a microscope) with sparse backing provided by his sons Robert and Eugene. A cockney version of Vic Chesnutt? Or maybe a more provincial and eccentric Randy Newman. In fact, "Porcupine People" may be a distant, paranoid cousin to Newman's "Short People": "If I had a porcupine knife I'd cut off their porcupine quills and treat them badly like they treat me/and I'd take them out to porcupine tea and poison every cup."
But like his entire "porcupine world," Coyne's plots are fantasies, prompted by childlike disillusionment rather than anger. "Happy Little Fat Man" introduces a full band (and a happy ending) and "I'm Into Your Game" is an acoustic blues--Coyne style--about phone sex ("You're so sweet, do you really want to do that?"). Coyne reveals his lust for "My Wife's Best Friend" in a chugging, electric blues ("I get kinda hot when she knocks on the door") while one of the disc's best cuts, "Bird Brain," takes aim at a temptress ("Hey little bird brain, I'm exploding"). One thing's for sure, whatever you got in your collection, you ain't got one of these.
