This came out in 1998 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
It’s rare for a band to split into two entities as good as the original. Late British popsters The Housemartins may be the exception that proves the rule.
Ex-vocalist Paul Heaton’s sextet The Beautiful South carry on the band’s wry Britpop tradition, topping their sweet, Squeeze-y pop with lyrics cynically smart enough to make Elvis Costello green. After seven CDs of immaculately brilliant songcraft, it’s easy to see why the South are one of the U.K.’s top-selling bands. Not that former ‘Martins’ bassist Norman Cook — better known by his nom de turntable Fatboy Slim — is any slouch. Unabashedly exuberant and shamelessly self-promoting, Slim’s giddy big beats and skipping-needle sample style can be mesmerizing (or irritating) as all get out. One thing it ain’t is forgettable. One spin and Rockafeller Skank will be in your head for days. Resistance is futile.
