Ah, the irony of it all. For years, Graham Coxon played guitar with Blur and produced lo-fi solo albums of noisy skater-rock. After being sacked during the sessions for Think Tank, however, he retreated to Camde - and, naturally enough, produced an album that sounds uncannily like the old Blur. Happiness in Magazine is a record with the same eclectic spirit that inspired Parklife, taking in indie-pop, power punk, crooning ballads and even the occasional waltz. To add to the confusion, meanwhile, Coxon's slightly whiny singing voice has even started to sound uncannily like Damon Albarn. His slightly neurotic lyrics are all his own, however, giving his songs a little-boy-lost quality that's often extremely effective. And with plenty of thinly-disguised digs at his old band, this excellent album raises the rather awkward question of who exactly needs who more. Are you listening, Damon?
