Sarah Knows Nothing About Music- Electric Warrior, T. Rex

After 2 weeks of actually going back to work (yay Korea for handling this outbreak stuff relatively well so I can go outside sometimes), I return whence more to listen to another album I’ve never heard before.

Today’s recommendation is a bit different from the last three I’ve had. Firstly, because the friend in question is really a parent (my Pa, and yes I guess I consider him a friend too, aren’t I cute), and the album recommended is from an artist I’ve actually heard of. More than heard of in fact, I’ve even heard some of their music! And enjoy it! Gazooks, look at me! (no I don’t know where the Gazooks came from either). I’m excited to explore music that I have a frame of reference for, for once, so let’s see what T. Rex’s Electric Warrior has to offer that I haven’t already heard from them. Let’s get it:

Before the album

As I said, I have actually got quite a lot of experience with T. Rex’s music, so going into this I know a hell of a lot more than normal. I know, for example, that T. Rex were a leading band in the glam rock scene of the early 1970s, and that their lead singer Marc Bolan was pretty much the centre of the group, with the other members changing quite a bit. I know this last fact because I’ve even gone so far as to read a biography of Marc Bolan, meaning I know probably more about him than most other music acts (I don’t read a lot of biographies). As much as I don’t know an exhaustive amount about British glam rock, I am familiar with it en generale (hi, I’m Sarah, I use French terms to seem smart because I’m a bellend). I know the big hits of T. Rex, David Bowie, Slade, Roxy Music etc, I know that there was a fairly clear divide between ‘arty’ glam rock and more ‘campy’ stuff (Mud, Slade and others I believe fell into the latter category while T. Rex was the former), and I know that the genre was characterised by glitter, spectacle over substance, and pretty simple fun music. Probably why I like it. I also know that T. Rex were one of the main parts of this scene, and that when they began they were absolutely huge, but burned out after a couple of years (I think?) and never really got back to greatness. And then Marc Bolan died in a car accident in 1977, which, you know, kinda put a full stop on things. God I remember more of that biography than I thought.

Also, unsurprisingly as this recommendation comes from my father, I have heard a fair amount of T. Rex music because it would get played in the house growing up (guess who by). I really like pretty much everything I’ve heard, and I would say Ride A White Swan is currently my fave of theirs. Looking at the tracklist for this album I can see a few of the bangers I know and love already- Hot Love, Jeepster and the amazing Get It On, so I’m intrigued to see how they fit in with the rest of the tracks.

Very First Thoughts

It sounds dim to say it, but it sounds pretty much exactly like I thought it would. I’m a little surprised that the first two tracks (Mambo Sun and Cosmic Dancer) are relatively chilled out, slow songs. But that might just be because of what I already know about T. Rex’s big hit songs and general style. It picks up the tempo once we get to Jeepster, which I’ve always liked, though I remember being a little scared of listening to the song as a kid due to the level of enthusiasm Bolan uses singing the line “Girl I’m just a vampire for your love/I’m gonna suck ya!”. No thank you sir. Also, there seems to be imagery of stars in hair in pretty much every song on this album. Not complaining, it’s very ‘glitter-beard drag’.

As the album goes on

The album generally remains pretty calm throughout, which is again, not what I expected. This is one of T. Rex’s earlier albums, so clearly their vibe was much more towards the sexy-style slow jam of Get It On or Lean Woman Blues at this point. 20th Century Boy and Children of the Revolution clearly came along once more cocaine had been consumed. But damn these vibes work well. I think Lean Woman Blues is probably my favourite of the songs I haven’t previously heard here, though I enjoyed the reflective tone of Life’s a Gas. It feels deliberately lazy, like exactly the sort of thing that would have been written lying down and smoking weed. Which, to be fair, it probably was. Lyrics like “No it really doesn’t matter at all/Life’s a Gas” could be extremely depressing, but when Bolan’s singing them he gives off the kind of smiling, ‘fuck it, who cares?’ aura that makes it quite the opposite.

Speaking of the lyrics in this album, much has been said about how Bolan never really wrote words in songs to be meaningful, and this album proves that quite nicely. I mean, as great as the lyric “You’re built like a car/you’ve got a hubcap diamond star halo” is, I certainly haven’t a fucking clue what it means. Maybe it’s a 70s thing. Even Cosmic Dancer, which gives off the most thoughtful impression of any of the tracks on here, is pretty much just throwing poetic ideas at a wall and hoping they sound good. “I danced myself right out the womb/Is it strange to dance so soon?” is exactly the kind of lyric that a dance-loving Instagram star would post online in an annoying font surrounded by fairy lights. Not that that means the song is annoying, far from it. I’m just not sure that it really means anything. But who cares? Cosmic Dancer is also the most Bowie-like song on here, which is probably due to the fact that one of the album’s producers, Tony Visconti, also produced for Bowie at this time (and actually until his death I believe). And the fact that I knew this without googling it has made me feel immensely smug.

When the album finishes

Yeah, that was really good. Feather-light in terms of meaning, but I’ve never been bothered by that. The reason I liked Marc Bolan in the first place was that he was a pretty man with long hair who wore glitter and velvet. We’re not talking Proust here, and for me that’s a good thing. Again, the subdued, not-full-on-rock style did surprise me a bit (Jeepster is the upmost up-tempo song on here), but I think this is to the album’s credit. Also, the album does make it pretty obvious that Bolan wrote a set number of song types; slow and noodling stoner ones (Cosmic Dancer, Girl, Monolith); slightly faster, fuzzy, sexy grooves (Hot Love, Lean Woman Blues, Get It On, The Motivator- the last two sound incredibly similar); and more directly pop-styled tunes (Jeepster, Raw Ramp). Again, I have no problem with this when the songs are still good, but the styles seem pretty damn set. Also I feel like I can hear the glitter in this album, which doesn’t make any sense, but neither do the songs so sue me.

Where would you hear this album?

In a stoned teenager’s bedroom in the early 1970s most likely. Or in films about stoned teenagers in the 1970s. This album is also perfect for swirling your hands slowly around you in the air whilst you wear a shawl and pretend you’re a hippy in a field at a music festival. In the 1970s, of course. Wearing glitter. Always glitter.

Would it go on a playlist?

If there isn’t currently a ‘Swirling your hands slowly around you in the air whilst you wear a shawl and pretend you’re a hippy in a field at a music festival in the 1970s’ playlist, it needs to be made, and this entire album put on it. Otherwise, I would definitely add Lean Woman Blues and Life’s a Gas to my list of songs I like by T. Rex. And Cosmic Dancer too, though I didn’t realise I already knew it until I listened to this album.

D’ya like it?

Like father, like daughter. Yes, this is a great album, and I’m not at all surprised that I liked it. I’m also pleased to have heard something outside the ‘greatest hits’ songs of this band and not become disappointed. Thanks Dad.