Do not be fooled by Scritti Politti’s cool sounding rhyming name or by the very cool looking package of their fourth album Anomie & Bonhomie. This is one book that can not be judged by its cover. Scritti Pollitti (led by English singer Green Gartside) is in its third decade of searching for a hit single and even in today’s current sad state of music, a hit single still seems far out of their grasp.
Amongst the weak points on the album are Gartside’s sickeningly breathy vocals and nonsensical lyrics, made only more insipid through the overly heartfelt and serious delivery. The fact that Mos Def appears on two tracks on this album does not help matters, as he exhibits all the talent of a second rate Ya Kid K.
The most upsetting thing about this album is that all but two of the tracks start off sounding funky and promising, only to quickly turn into irritable Sky-like pop.
It is always unfortunate to see the return of any half-assed ’80s band, but Anomie & Bonhomie gives us an example of musical ineptitude upon which all other ill-conceived comebacks should be measured.