

Album Review
Baxter Dury doesn't follow his dad's lead into quirky punk rock,
for his debut album, Len Parrot's Memorial Lift, is a disheveled mix of
space rock aesthetic — misty guitar layers and lingering piano drops
swirl around Dury's childhood storybook of being middle class in a posh
celebrity world. It's quite clever and imaginative, really. Dury's
delicate vocals come to a near-whisper — certainly not a match for his
father's cockney growl — but set the tone for a wistful set of songs.
From the dreamy waltz of "Auntie Jane" to the indie pop wit of
"Lucifer's Grain," one will sense that Dury's a poet at heart. Joanna
Hussey's warm, honeyed backing vocals gently intertwine on the latter
track, but deliver a shining moment on "Oscar Brown." This particular
track is a soft-hued beauty, lush in string arrangements that blatantly
borrow the chorus from the Velvet Underground's "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'."
While the first half of the album flows with a gauzy atmosphere,
"Gingham Smalls 2" switches tempo, befooling his English upbringing in a
humorous pub rock romp. Len Parrot's Memorial Lift is a meaningful
piece of work from Dury Jr., an experimental effort full of
professionalism and an original artistic sense. Baxter Dury attempts to
be an individualist and he does a good job, but he is Ian's son through
and through in a way that music brings alive. Just one listen to
"Boneyard Dogs" and you'll know it.
