Named after a radical right-wing American organization --
and possibly for that reason simply retitled The Arm of the Lord in the States
-- Covenant, self-produced by the group at its long-time studio Western Works,
is something of a curious release. While not much like Code and the group's
absolute nadir, Groovy, Laidback and Nasty, Covenant still subtly indicates the
band's incipient spiral into fairly unremarkable late-eighties mediocrity. Call
it a use of already-clichéd musical touches copied from others where before
Mallinder and Kirk invented sounds everyone else ripped off, but whatever the
reason the Cabs here start being less special and more run-of-the-mill. The
balance perfected between sheen and punch on The Crackdown and Micro-Phonies is
still here, but the stripped-down power of that latter album in particular gets
disguised here by intrusive synth-pop and hip-hop elements. Sometimes such new
fusions work -- "I Want You," with an amusing vocal hook provided
from a favourite Cabs vocal source, a TV/radio preacher, has just enough
breathy energy and attractiveness to stand out strongly. Many other tracks
betray the titular fascination with America, God and guns the Cabs exorcise
here, such as the introductory samples to "Hells Home" and "The
Arm of the Lord" itself. Other tracks have definite moments in general,
like the quirky combination of percussion on the instrumental break of
"Golden Halos." Mallinder gets in some sharp, rumbling bass work at
points, and his understated but clear vocal approach still serves him well,
while Kirk packs in quite a few fine electronic touches throughout. Still,
though, there's just something about this album which feels a bit half-cocked
-- fans as always will find something to enjoy.
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