David J ‘Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh’ Review: sophomore solo effort receives first vinyl reissue in 33 years.

★★★★

While bassist/vocalist David J. Haskins is best known as the bassist for iconic post-punk acts Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, he’s also had a quite prolific solo career, releasing 13 albums since 1983.

And his sophomore effort, the long out-of-print Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh, has recently been reissued on vinyl for the first time in 33 years (via Glass Modern).

Cosh was released in 1985, the same year that J. formed Love and Rockets with former Bauhaus bandmates Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, and in many ways it acts a precursor to that group (in particular their classic 1987 effort Earth Sun Moon), awash in acoustics and psychedelia, a distinct shift from the harsh and fraught sonics of Bauhaus (the latter of which he’s currently performing live with Peter Murphy).

The saxophone driven title track recalls Lou Reed’s Walk on The Wild Side crossed with vintage Bob Dylan, Too Clever By Half’s crystalline guitar lines punctuated by the sound of chirping birds.

J’s calm, laconic vocal delivery remains the constant center of the album, never rising above the mix or becoming overly histrionic, adding a meditative quality to tracks like the backward guitar laden Imitation Pearls or the country ballad Justine.

It’s not all genteel sentiment however, even the dreamy, ethereal track Stop This City speaks to fatigue with the rat race: stop this city, I want to get off.

At 13 tracks, Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh is fairly long for an album of the 80’s, but its calm pace and lush atmospherics never out-stays its welcome. For diehard completists of J’s better known work, this rerelease is well worth adding to your catalogue, to get a better sense of the musical framework that makes this idiosyncratic musician tick.

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