CMJ New Music Report
March 10, 1989 (Issue 165)
Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians
Queen Elvis
Like a sort of Mad Hatter, Robyn Hitchcock has been known to sport a wide variety of headgear in his day -- sometimes being coy and fetching in his grim reaper's cloak ("The Devil's Coachman"), at others donning the empurpled turban of Psychedelia ("Knife", "One Long Pair Of Eyes"), and at still others adopting the tassled and bejewelled fez of an outright eccentric ("Veins Of The Queen") -- throughout his lengthy career it has always been difficult to tie Hitch down and figure out exactly what kind of wig it is he's wearing. Lyrically, this is Robyn at his most Robynesque -- Queen Elvis is populated by a cast of delightful screwballs; musically, it's reminiscent of his earliest work with The Soft Boys. Queen Elvis is Hitchcock's most skillfully-crafted disc ever, a maze of hooks and twists that ensnare one gradually over many listenings. The time may now be right to push Hitchcock and his off-angle wit out of the shadows and into the main; but whatever success and acclaim that might ultimately be heaped at our boy's feet, long-time fans will be pleased to know that Robyn remains delightfully skewed, wonderfully warped, and as bizarre and impenetrable as ever.
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