Initially active in Glasgow in the late ’80s, The Vaselines’ slim early catalogue (two EPs and one album) has long been held in high esteem, thanks partly to Nirvana’s cover of ‘Molly’s Lips’. While 2010’s comeback ‘Sex With An X’ found Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee in filthy good humour, the spark has dimmed a little on ‘V For Vaselines’. Electricity still crackles on power pop opener ‘High Tide Low Tide’, and bittersweet duet ‘Single Spies’ sees the pair harmonising like Scotland’s own Sonny And Cher, but much of the album (‘Inky Lies’, ‘Crazy Lady’) chugs along in a glam rock furrow with only rare bursts of fun. The tunes offer a smooth enough ride, but The Vaselines aren’t really stretching themselves here.
Stuart Huggett