The House of Love's second album is kind of like a classic 80s indie album that happened to come out in 1990. After the slowly building opener Hannah, the album kicks into gear with Terry Bickers' chiming guitar riff on the anthemic Shine On. This brooding track flirts with goth as a Guy Chadwick croons "I need assistance". But the following track Beatles and the Stones is the heart of the album. Opening with some gorgeous, laid back guitar, it contains a romantic chorus telling the tale of how "the Beatles and the Stones suck the marrow out of bones" but ultimately "made it good to be alone". The guitars are more akin to the Velvet Underground's third album.
Elsewhere the album has a couple of upbeat, pleasant tunes (Shake and Crawl, I Don't Know Why I Love You) and some a little on the busy side (Hedonist, In A Room). Chadwick sounds a little like Lloyd Cole on Never and the stripped down Someone's Got To Love You, while later, Blind rivals Beatles and the Stones for the prettiest guitars on the album.
At times the album seems unremarkable but there are some really nice moments on it. Not the best album of 1990 but worth spending a bit of time with.
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