PAUL McCARTNEY (THE FIREMAN) — “ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS”

by Rick Zeigler, owner of Indy CD & Vinyl

I long ago stopped looking to the next Paul McCartney album to give me hints of what the Beatles might sound like if they were still around today (e.g., remember Back To The Egg—thought not).

So often filled with syrupy mush and bland arrangements, post –Band On The Run McCartney albums, even when they were OK (e.g., Venus And Mars, Chaos and Creation), have rarely offered truly satisfying displays of the talents he so often displayed with the Beatles.

Electric Arguments, however, made under his not-so-secret alias of The Fireman, is an album that stands up to and passes this test. It has long been suggested that unhappy circumstances for an artist often lead to career highlights, and, given the acrimonious break-up of McCartney’s marriage to Heather Mills, perhaps that is what has led Sir Paul to produce his best, and most blues-infused, work in years.

Or maybe it was his method of production, which involved him playing all the instruments and spending only one day recording and arranging each of the thirteen songs, along with collaborator Youth (ex-Killing Joke bassist and uber-producer for U2 and others).

McCartney, himself, has suggested that using an alias was somewhat liberating for him in feeling he didn’t have to hew close to any commercial expectations. Whatever the reasons, Electric Arguments is McCartney’s best album in 30 years, and a must buy for those who have fond memories of his former group (not Wings!).

While this is actually his third album with Youth as The Fireman, their previous collaborations were primarily vocal-less affairs that focused on ambient soundscapes or, more unfortunately, electronic noodlings. Electric Arguments, on the other hand, contains full songs in a wide variety of styles, with McCartney in fine voice. You might even call it McCartney’s White Album (which he continues to extol as one of the Beatles finest works).

The record starts with a harsh harmonica riff, pounding drums, and McCartney bluesily vocalizing “yeah, yeahs” and “na na nas”. In the same key and somewhat reminiscent of “Helter Skelter,” the lyrics go on to focus on love and betrayal, with McCartney even uttering the “b” word towards the target of his ire (hello Heather?).

With an excellent middle-8 and a shaggy freak-out of an ending with just Paul’s voice and some wild-ass guitar, it is McCartney’s best rocker in many a year. This is followed by “Two Magpies,” a slow, swinging, acoustic number with hushed guitar, brushed drums, and one of those great McCartney melodies (a la “Blackbird”). “Sing The Changes” finds McCartney singing a beautiful anthem that Oasis must wish could be theirs.

“Traveling Light” is a tour-de-force that recalls English folk songs, with acoustic guitar, flute and subtle percussion driving it along, until it then turns into a sea shanty that ultimately dissolves into beautiful ambience. “Highway” is an excellent, straightforward blues-based rocker, while “Light From Your Lighthouse” is a gospelly truffle that would not have been out of place on the White Album.

This is followed by “Sun Is Shining,” which is the “sunny” McCartney at his very best, providing a great melody that sticks in your head, along a nice instrumental hook. Electric Arguments then begins to get slightly more experimental as it wends its way onward. “Is This Love” gives off a warm, flowing ambient glow that carries the melody along wonderfully, while “Lovers In A Dream” involves a cello and loud ambient noises that become underpinned by a nice beat and “mantra”-like vocal.

McCartney then segues into a classical piano figure, a dog barking, and other noises, before finally finishing with a nice guitar-and-piano fade out. “Don’t Stop Running,” at 10-plus minutes, is the final tune, and it is a gem. A hook-driven, minor key “avant” lamentation, it pulls together the album in fine fashion, being both somber and uplifting at the same time.

With all the variety present on Electric Arguments, each listen reveals fresh interludes to focus your attention, again not unlike the Beatles work. Of course, this is not the Beatles, but it is a fully realized work by one of their principal architects, and it has been a long time since that phrase could be honestly written.

Uniting his populist talents with his avant leanings, McCartney, now in his 60s (!), shows that he still can deliver the goods when the stars are aligned properly.

For our sake, let us hope that their present alignment does not quickly fade away.