| Record reviews
The text here has been extracted from reviews of Scritti Politti's records in various magazines.
Smash Hits magazine - August 1982 Review by Tim De Lisle Like China Crisis, Scritti are a cult band who get a lot of attention
on evening radio and keep being tipped as the next medium-sized thing.
This is another good single, not in the same league as "The
Sweetest Girl" but any song that rhymes "popsicle" with
"hospital" is all right by me. Carl: I think that's brilliant! I wish he wouldn't write lyrics like he's swallowed a whole dictionary though. Sometimes he should come down to our level. Steve: This is my sort of happening drum groove. This is the sort of stuff I like. Carl: It's a definite hit in the clubs. Green and the boys
have done a goodie. Hurrah! Can I keep the record? (Certainly not -
Ed.) The cover artwork is beautiful, packaging a beautiful song. The
revamped, remodelled Scritti Politti deliver a slinky desert-island-
shore, pineapple-sky soundtrack. The cream always rises to the top. A
hop, a jump and a skip beat houses an ambitious sugar-sweet vocal
arrangement that takes my breath away. Words like "righteous,
testify and faith" do not a soul record make but this is studded
with more soul than 78% of the trans-Atlantic garbage on offer this
week. Be proud to own this record. Imperial Leather. Like all Scritti singles, this sounds like pure candy floss - until
its strengths reveal themselves. Even so, this relies more than most on
the forceful crash and rattle of its ultra-modern rhythm track for
impact - a dodgy choice for a fifth single from an album. Three years in the making and what have we here? 'Cupid And Psyche 85's' big sister, no less. Basically, if you loved that one, you'll adore this. Maybe more poppy and less self-conscious than it's predecessor, 'Provision' finds the master perfecting his art even if it does mean chucking in a few backward nods in the direction of Herbie Hancock circa 1978. Ye Gods, he's even got Roger Troutman from Zapp on the jolly old vocoder trilling away... Kicking off with the zippy 'Boom', he may only get those vocal chords going once every three years but when he does it's sweeter than a lorry load of white Toblerones. There's an impressive array of session musicians on the album. Musical snobs amongst you will no doubt find the inclusion of luminaries such as Miles Davis and aforementioned Zapp person terribly impressive. All that bothers me mate, is whether or not the tunes are up to scratch! Which they are! As we slide into the smouldering 'Overnite' then the brisk 'First Boy In Town', either of which could be a great single, it becomes clear that 'Patti' was a mere taster for the delights herein. It's a shame that parts of side two sag a wee bit and that 'Best
Thing Ever' sounds horribly like Julian Lennon's 'Too Late For
Goodbyes', but, frankly, who cares? If more people made records like
this, then maybe us poor journalists wouldn't be such grumpy old cynics.
'Provision' is the aural equivalent of three months holiday in the
Bahamas. Scritti Politti is basically a bloke called Green Gartside who was a
bit of a pop star back in 1985 when he released a tune-stuffed LP called
"Cupid And Psyche". And now - three years later! - he's back
etc, and not that much appears to have changed. The songs on
"Provision" still twinkle one's toes like nobody's business,
especially on "First Boy In This Town (Lovesick)" and
"Bam Salute". But though Green always writes extremely clever,
dreamy, crisp songs, there's nothing here - apart from the current
single "Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry For Loverboy)" - to suggest
that Green will be having too many pop hits over the next few months. You can imagine music like this wafting across the lawn at some university garden party, providing the background for clinking of glasses and clever conversation; steady, reggaefied percussion, jazzy saxophone and reedy vocals from Green as he leads you through his tranquil but edgy compositions. The two years it took to make may have blunted its impact somewhat, reducing fine songs like "Rock-A-Boy-Blue" to faintly precious exercises in theory, but there's more than enough in "Songs To Remember" to establish Scritti Politti as the acceptable face of intellectual pop.
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