AMG Review of Len Parrot's Memorial Lift

MacKenzie Wilson
All Music Guide

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.