The Charlatans UK: Wonderland

In 1990, the smart bet as to which so-called "baggy" band would be the last standing certainly wasn't The Charlatans UK. Blatant jumpers on the bandwagon that carried The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays to near-fame, its members beat critics to the punch twice, first by calling themselves charlatans, and then by releasing a fine debut, Some Friendly. The band got noticed by approximating the haircuts of the scene's elder statesmen, but kept people interested with tuneful (if not particularly original) music defined by a driving Hammond organ and singer Tim Burgess' pleasantly detached voice. While attrition claimed the careers of its contemporaries, The Charlatans UK closed ranks and pressed on, releasing samey albums of varying quality, slowly but surely changing its sound, but never straying far from the original blueprint. Wonderland, The Charlatans' seventh album, is notable because it marks the band's first major step away from that sound—a move, it turns out, that should have been more carefully planned. The most obvious stylistic leap is Burgess' singing voice: After 10 years, he's decided to try falsetto, which he employs to strange, often embarrassing effect on half of the album's 10 tracks. Coupled with often laughable lyrics ("Back to back / Feel the pain of an offshore shark attack," goes the gospel-tinged "I Just Can't Get Over Losing You"), his new voice just sounds silly. On a couple of tracks, Burgess even catches white-Englishman-becomes-black-soul-singer disease: His best Marvin Gaye/Curtis Mayfield hybrid plagues "A Man Needs To Be Told" and "Wake Up." Elsewhere, the band's obvious affection for The Rolling Stones rears its head, but instead of emulating the dozens of worthwhile Jagger/Richards songs, The Charlatans UK chooses to ape the disco-funk of "Miss You" (on "You're So Pretty–We're So Pretty"). Along with the throwbacks come misguided attempts at futurism: Drum-and-bass beats seem tacked onto "A Man Needs To Be Told" and "And If I Fall," and the mid-album instrumental "The Bell And The Butterfly" is strictly disposable house. The few moments on Wonderland that make sense in the context of the band's history are overshadowed by a musical reach that exceeds its grasp.