Wreckless Eric Albums (7)
'Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby'
Release Date 9/15/2008
Tracks 11
Label Stiff
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What The Critics Say
With Wreckless Eric back on Stiff Records for the first time in 30 years, it was easy for various listeners to say he was back on form as well. Ha! He never lost form. Indeed, the chain of albums that divides Big Smash! way back when, from Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby today, represents one of the most startling adroit voyages in modern rock, as the occasionally novelty minded auteur behind "Waxworks," "Personal Hygiene," and "Pop Song" developed such a weary eye for modern nonsense that civilization itself should have hung its head in shame. Blessed with a tongue so tart you could serve it for dessert, Eric long ago established himself among the most important songwriters of his generation and, sharing the spotlight with a conspirator who seems just as brusque as he is, he maintains that proud status here. Songs are divided unequally between the pair, Rigby writes five, Eric two, and the partnership meets for three more. But every one hovers around the same darkened corners of discomfort and damage, and though Eric all but threatens autobiography with the ferocious "The Downside of Being a Fuck-Up," you know he wouldn't have it any other way. As usual with latter-day Eric albums, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby is not the easiest listen, sparse and Spartan, with the harmonies not so much layered against one another, as splattered across your ears. But dissolution quickly dissolves into compulsion, and "Another Drive in Saturday" is the best slice of drifting, haunting nostalgia you've heard since Bobby Goldsboro recalled "Summer the First Time," or Eric himself revisited "Lureland." The result is a masterpiece, and a master class in what songwriting is really all about. Songs. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
'Almost A Jubilee: 25 Years At The BBC (with Gaps)'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 18
Label Hux
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What The Critics Say
Not everything that Wreckless Eric recorded for the BBC is on this 18-song compilation. But for a single-disc collection it covers a lot of territory, running 79 minutes and featuring material from sessions cut in 1977, 1978, 1986 (as part of the Len Bright Combo), 1996 (as part of the Hittsville House Band), 2001 (as part of Southern Domestic), and 2002 (as just plain Eric Goulden). No matter which musicians he was playing with or which billing he was using, it's Wreckless Eric that dominates the proceedings, as both singer and songwriter. The tracks that excite the most attention will probably be the first seven -- all from 1977-78 -- and all of the songs hailing from the period of his first album. Although the two sessions were recorded just five months apart, the band was totally different on each occasion save for Eric, with Ian Dury handling drums on the first session. As is par for the course with BBC session releases, it's nothing too startlingly different from the familiar versions; it's just a good chance to hear this notable new waver in rough'n'ready fashion, with good sound, performing some of his most famous tunes (including "Whole Wide World" and "Semaphore Signals"). The post-'78 cuts aren't as notable since the material isn't as memorable, though they're not bad. The vocals don't have great presence in the mix on the '86 session; while "Girl with the Wandering Eye" and "You Can't See the Woods (For the Trees)" from 1996 are high spots. By 2001, his songs are tending to go on too long. The program comes to an end on an amusing note with the sole item from the 2002 session, a solo acoustic tribute to "Joe Meek." Lengthy liner notes from Wreckless Eric himself add some useful inside perspectives about the sessions. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Donovan of Trash'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 13
Label Sympathy for the Indust
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What The Critics Say
Recorded for Billy Childish's Hangman label in the early '90s, well over ten years after Wreckless Eric's brief moment in the charts, one would be forgiven for thinking that Donovan of Trash would be a complete mess. On the other hand, all of Wreckless Eric's best albums are complete messes; it's only when he's spiffed up that things go off the rails. As such, Donovan of Trash is probably Wreckless Eric's most enjoyable album that doesn't have either "Whole Wide World" or "Semaphore Signals" on it. The highlight is "Joe Meek," one of Eric's finest songs ever, a heartfelt yet tongue-in-cheek tribute to the great British eccentric record producer of the '60s, though the Jonathan Richman-like reverie "Paris in June" is a close second. The sound is live and largely acoustic, with minimal backing that includes such unexpected instruments as kazoo and good old-fashioned Bill Black-style slap bass. Sweet, funny, and utterly unpretentious, Donovan of Trash is a winner, one of Wreckless Eric's finest albums ever. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
'Le Beat Group Electrique'
Release Date 1/1/1989
Tracks 12
Label New Rose
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What The Critics Say
This overlooked comeback effort was an unheralded triumph for Eric, on which he fronted a guitar-bass-drums trio (he also plays his usual cheesy organ) on a stripped-down set of strong songs with a live production feel. With his strangled, yearning vocals, basic melodic hooks, and songs about messed-up relationships, Wreckless recalls some of Lou Reed and Syd Barrett's better solo work, as he makes his confusion a cause for infectious celebration instead of gloomy moping. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's entirely possible that the title to Wreckless Eric's second album Big Smash! was meant sincerely, it's entirely possible that it was an ironic joke -- such is the charm of Wreckless is that both answers are entirely plausible. The thing is, the truth doesn't matter -- as Eric reveals in the liner notes to the 2007 expanded reissue, he didn't even think of the title, merely chose it from two options offered by Stiff. Nevertheless, Big Smash! sure sounds like an attempt to have a big pop smash, something that Wreckless wryly admits with the opening "A Pop Song," a sly jibe at the record company asking for a hit, with Eric acquiescing to their demands with a song as sardonic and hooky as his one-time producer, Nick Lowe. But Big Smash!, overall, sees Wreckless Eric toning down his sense of humor considerably while tightening up his attack, which makes this a very different affair than the debut or his early singles. Those were wild, unruly, unhinged -- truly, they were reckless, where this is just eccentric, but that doesn't mean it's tamed. In fact, a cleaned-up Wreckless Eric still packs a powerful punch, as evidenced by his rampaging cover of "Break My Mind," and the cleaner attack highlights his skills as a pop songwriter, capable of writing tunes that are as barbed lyrically as they are musically, but also capable of a surprising sweetness. It's hard not to draw comparisons to the Stiff alumni Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, since the music is reminiscent of Costello's new wave pop and his style is closer to Lowe's, but Eric is certainly his own unique thing, which Big Smash! makes clear in a way that his debut didn't. Again, clarity is the key here -- the magic of the debut is that it was a drunken mess, but here there's no debris, just pure pop and rock & roll, and it's every bit as addictive as his debut, and it's more cohesive, too, so it may just trump it in that regard. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric'
Release Date 1/1/1978
Tracks 10
Label Stiff
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What The Critics Say
Wreckless Eric had already begun to tire of Stiff's promotion of him as a drunken rebellious lout by the time of his second album, The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric. He hadn't grown strong enough to break free of Stiff's hold, but he was able to clean up his sound enough for The Wonderful World to make his music slightly more accessible -- which means it just doesn't sound as messy as his debut. Wreckless Eric still has an odd, idiosyncratic point of view, but the sound is streamlined enough to make his snarls and growls palatable. Also, his hooks are getting stronger overall, and while only "Take the Cash" is on the level of "Whole Wide World," the rest of the record is comprised of rockers (and two pointless covers of Tommy Roe and Buddy Holly) that are quite enjoyable. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Wreckless Eric's eponymous debut is a ragged, endearing collection of crude rock & roll. In a way, crude doesn't even begin to describe Eric's music. A muddle of scratchy guitars, pounding drumming, and snarled, indecipherable vocals, the record is pure, primal garage rock in the old-fashioned sense. Although Wreckless Eric has the demeanor of a punk, his music is straight-out rock & roll in the old-fashioned sense -- there's even saxophones and organs popping out of the mix. What makes Wreckless Eric such fun is its combination of catchy hooks, spirited playing, and downright rudeness. Only a handful of songs are fully formed, and those -- "Whole Wide World" and Ian Dury's "Rough Kids" -- are punk-inflected pub rock classics, pure pop songs in every sense of the term. The remainder are off-kilter, idiosyncratic pop songs -- about everything from "Personal Hygiene" and "Waxworks" to "Telephoning Home" and "Brain Thieves" -- performed with sloppy, drunken abandon. Too punk for pub rockers, too straightforward for punk, and too weird for everybody else, Wreckless Eric's debut album is one of the small gems of the punk era. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
