Magazine - Secondhand Daylight (CD)

All Music Guide

Secondhand Daylight must have been committed in the cold. You can practically see the steam coming out of Howard Devoto as he sneeringly spews out lines like "Today I bumped into you again/I have no idea what you want" in "Permafrost." You can picture Dave Formula swiping frost off his keys and Barry Adamson blowing on his hands during the intro to "Feed the Enemy," while Johns McGeoch and Doyle zip up their parkas. More than anything, Daylight is a showcase for Formula's chilly but expressive keyboard work; he appears to release as many demons as Devoto does throughout the course of the dark album. Detached tales of relationships damaged beyond repair dominate the album, and it's not nearly as bouncy as Real Life or The Correct Use of Soap the only real chugger is "Rhythm of Cruelty." Despite the subzero climate and lack of dance numbers, it isn't a completely impenetrable record. It's not as immediately satisfying as their first and third albums, but it deserves just as much recogni...tion as Magazine's other stellar works. - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide Read more Less