Simon Love - Sincerely, S. Love X (2018)

If you're thinking of buying just one magnificent pop disc in 2018, you need look no further: Tapete present Simon Love's Sincerely, S. Love x. Sincerely, S. Love x (the kiss is meant to be pronounced) is Simon's sophomore solo album (his 2015 debut It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time was released on the brilliant, now sadly defunct Fortuna Pop label) and it features at least ten hits. Proper pop hits, with ELO harmonies, Spectoresque production, strings, and trumpets, the whole shebang. All recorded over the last two years in London, England. Big city pop! Listening to Sincerely, S. Love x conjures up images of the Run DMC/Aerosmith video for "Walk This Way", except in Love's case, the 1910 Fruitgum Company would be rehearsing on one side of the wall and The Left Banke on the other. When the wall between the two bands comes tumbling down, Elton John might pop in to see what all the fuss is about. He happens to see a white grand piano standing there and joins in the fun. Then they crack open a few bottles of Cola and listen to The Rutles or Stiff Records 7"s. And seeing as they are all there in the same place, they record a few songs together. The result: the album you now see before you. More or less. "Maybe it sounds rather corny, but love really is a big part of this album," Simon Love admits. "'God Bless The Dick Who Let You Go' was a wedding gift for my wife, for instance ... I'm such a cheapskate!" Homemade presents are the loveliest presents of all. And to be fair, with a name like Love, why shouldn't the most delectable of feelings take center stage? Love is in abundance on Simon's new album: two tunes for his beloved ("God Bless The Dick Who Let You Go", "I Fucking Love You"), one for himself ("The Ballad Of Simon Love") and one for Joey Ramone ("Joey Ramone"). A song about the Beach Boys villain who shares his last name would not be out of place either. One for the next album perhaps. Other topics covered on this set: an unsightly tattoo ("Why´d You Get That Tattoo Girl?"), tennis ("Tennis Fan"), and a letter written by the five-year-old Stephen Timothy West to Blue Peter presenter John Noakes ("Stephen Timothy West"). The album is also characterized by a liberal dose of swearwords: Fuck, fucking, dick, dicking (and there's a shit in there too). This should, if nothing else, finally lend an air of street credibility to Tapete Records.