Blur – Bang Review

With an evocative, explosive title like Bang, listeners would rightfully hope Blur are booming on through. One of the band’s earliest releases, four songs, all one-word titles and baggy-infused, alternative rock offerings. Decent early works from Blur, the sound they would soon depart from, but a nice avenue for them to mould their creative flair. That titular bang is not an explosion of interest in the band, but a fearful pop of time passing by. The suddenness of it, the isolation which comes through on Bang, is the gift that keeps on giving. Where Leisure, the debut Blur album Bang features on, may struggle to overhaul its romantic suggestions and lost loves, Bang certainly has enough of an instrumental thrill to it. An obvious choice for a single, that much is clear. A punchy thrill ride, that is what Blur wanted to offer at the time of Bang’s release, and it is exactly what they manage. 

Listen in that little bit closer, though, above the whistling, floaty guitar work from Graham Coxon, and there is a lyrical thread which Blur would define better in later releases. Coxon sings and writes well of hang-ups and lost lovers, and though it has the lighter touch to it, the hollow centre for the sake of bouncy instrumental work, it does have a beating, real heart. That route first started on Bang is followed well on second song, Explain. Another baggy-like offering from the band, with the focus for the most part on how Alex James and Dave Rowntree would work together to provide steady rhythm. Constant strumming from Coxon and a bit of backing vocal work from him gives Explain the hearty, constantly questioning sound. A soft delivery from Damon Albarn takes the edge off of the fury, but the pangs of heartbreak, the sudden end to the instrumental line, is there.  

Floaty numbers like Luminous give us a glimpse at Blur as an instrumentally interesting band. Those muted guitar tones, whining away as they do, pierce the dreamlike qualities and roar through with a soft hint at what was to come. These early works sound more like a hint at what Blur would do in future than a fixation on the genre stylings they were meant to be playing up at the time. Leisure is a wonderful album and is certainly moved by the Madchester movement, but at its best, on Luminous or Bang, for instance, it is the sound of Albarn and company moving away from that sound which works best of all. Bang is a collection of songs sounding as though they are ready to break free from a restrictive genre.  

At the time, this was a sound Blur were comfortable with. They would reject it in the face of lighter tones and darker sarcasm in follow-up albums, but this is a sound they would return to. Not Berserk though, the soft adaptation of psychedelic tones is a bit of a damp offering from the band. A shame, too, since it does offer some wonderful suggestions of how the band would utilise those slightly darker moments. Bang is a sweet collection of singles for those who find Leisure a little too pop-oriented. This collection of deep cuts is a fascinating piece, not least because it provides an insight into a Blur sound which would not lead the band anywhere until almost a decade later. Those light psychedelic sounds are of interest to those who find Coxon’s guitar work nothing short of revolutionary. You can hear that tone in spots throughout Bang.