THE FAT WHITE FAMILY - Konk If You’re Lonely (Fat White Family Live At Konk Studios)

In some way, the album "Konk If You’re Lonely (Fat White Family Live At Konk Studios)" tries to capture the power of the English band, though in this hour of potential live greatest hits it only tells half the story, missing two key members of the British lineup. An absence that was already a hindrance on the not entirely convincing "Forgiveness Is Yours".

Fat White Family are one of those bands who, after raising the bar for modern alternative British rock with albums and live shows of real note, have cashed in on the notoriety earned as a transgressive cult band, settling into normalization under one of the indie scene's most prominent labels, Domino. "Konk If You’re Lonely (Fat White Family Live At Konk Studios)" lets the British band build on the success of their recent tours, while also bringing some gems of their older catalogue to wider attention.

While a live album is often a convenient way to smuggle old songs into the catalogue of a new label, it must be said that, despite the shift from most irreverent act of recent years to a more domesticated version of dazzling Fall-style madness (a comparison the band itself sealed with the ever-caustic "I Am Mark E Smith"), the album still manages to capture some of the chaos that has defined the band. Fat White Family's post-punk is still potent ("Hot Wet Beef", "Whitest Boy On The Beach") and the irony remains intact ("Hits Hits Hits"), and Lias Saoudi's band undoubtedly deserves the success it has found in recent years. At this point, we're still waiting for a record that goes beyond the merely competent, if vibrant, latest studio album or this enjoyable but not exactly essential live release.