Review Summary: Robert Smith and Steven Severin create an obscure, excellent release with a random woman with a sexy voice thats captivating. You interested?
Whether or not you have an opinion on The Cure, surely you've heard of their other masterpiece (besides
Disintegration) entitled
Pornography. A dark, cynical record, the album damn near broke up The Cure, and needless to say after the tour for the album, the band went on hiatus. While Robert Smith was kicking his dick in the dirt, an opportunity to join Siouxsie & The Banshees for the second time came his way, in which he gladly accepted. This was an easy gig for him, so to speak. He did the guitar duties, and did a European tour as well. A short time later, Siouxsie and drummer Budgie left to form a project entitled The Creatures. So while this added some unnecessary stress to bassist Steven Severin, Smith and Severin started a project of their own.
The Glove, named after the Blue Glove in The Beatles tripped-out film Yellow Submarine, was originally going to have Smith on vocals, and Severin and Smith doing all of the instrumentation (since both of the Gentlemen were highly accomplished musicians upon their own merit). However, Smith’s contract for his duties in The Cure forbade him to sing on other releases (Which makes no sense since Robert sings two tracks on this album). So now what? Well, they recruited a former dancer and then girlfriend of Budgie named Jeanette Landray to fulfill the duties. Landray had no singing experience whatsoever, and to be truthful, you would be amazed at how great she is.
Blue Sunshine, named after an obscure horror film from the 60s, is a colorful record, to say the least. Many of the arrangements would by no means fit properly on the individual members’ full-time groups. Some of the songs seem bright and poppy, but then Jeanette Landray would bust out a line describing “slicing her happy throat”. Most of the music is very 80s, and dated. However, that doesn’t mean it’s an unpleasant listening experience. It’s actually rather excellent, and you can tell a lot of hard work went into the writing phase. The music is dense, layered, and there is always something going on in the music, whether it a sound effect or Robert Smith striking a power chord.
The album starts off with the lead off single
Like an Animal, a frantic piece with excellent bass work by Severin. This starts the album rolling and then
Looking Glass Girl takes over your speakers with a hard drum beat and then beautiful acoustic guitar work by Mr. Smith. This also shows how well Jeanette Landray (which I must stress again she had no singing experience) her vocal range is, from going to very low octaves to the highest imaginable. It’s just overwhelming the quality of this release is, especially since the next track
Sex-Eye-Make-Up is another stellar one. Compared to the other compositions on this album, the music on this track is very sparse but it works to its own defense since Jeanette shines on this one with a great set of lyrics and her ever-so-sexy voice.
Robert Smith’s first vocal appearance on the record is up next with
Mr. Alphabet Says, a happy piano-driven tune with some excellent Violin work thrown in for good measure. His distinct vocal style works well, and this track could have easily fit on an album like
The Head on the Door or perhaps even
The Top.”A Blues in Drag” is a quiet instrumental number with excellent use of space and echoes. Peaceful, but not essential.
Punish Me with Kisses was the second single, and honestly, I just don’t see why. While it is a good song, there’s no real strong hook like on Looking Glass Girl and its hardly memorable. And yes, this track is probably the most dated sounding on the entire lp, and it sounds like it could have been a song in any John Hughes movie from the Brat Pack period. You’ll understand what I mean when you hear it, trust me.
This Green City should have been the second single if you ask me, and is a glowing example of how well this album clicks.
Orgy is an excellent tune but it makes way for the next Smith-vocal track
Perfect Murder, an early Depeche Mode-inspired tune that’s lead with the low end of a Xylophone and some spacey sound effects. Excellent stuff if you ask me, and even better if you took some Acid before you pressed play. Alas we end with
Relax, and the tune is not what the title suggests. Honestly, I’d call it “Lazy” since it’s pretty much all sound effects and a recording of some incomprehensible chattering.
Given the consequences, The Glove is a hugely triumphant albeit obscure release that only the fans of The Cure and The Banshees would remotely care about. And really, that is a shame since there’s no hints of The Banshees punkish flare and only a tad of the sound Smith would later use on the album prior to this release. Jeanette Landray is the obvious highlight too as she got her *** together and delivered a memorable job. To this day, this has been her only recording ever. In 2006, Smith re-released this (as he’s been doing gradually with The Cure’s back catalog) with a bonus disc that contained his vocals on every track of the lp. Funny, since Landray pretty much owns his performance on all levels, and that’s a huge statement since I’m a big Cure fan. His vocals on the released lp work primarily because he’s not on it often, and it’s a nice surprise. But on the bonus disc, enough is enough. Needless to say, this was a labor of love, and the teamwork is highly apparent. I wish they would have perhaps done another lp, mainly because the people would have more attention to it. But since this is a stand-alone album, most people hear about it while researching the member’s other bands. If you’ve never heard of this, I highly recommend it, even if you’re not a big Robert Smith fan. Poppy and dark at the same time,
Blue Sunshine gives the listeners a twisted fun ride into the psyches of Robert Smith and Steven Severin and is over before you know it. The replay value on this is staggering.
