Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell isn’t happy with the reviews his group’s new album, Slipway Fires, have been receiving — and he suspects the negativity is aimed at him. “If I go to a gig and see a band I don’t like, at least I can be objective, but it seems people want to believe the crap that’s written about me,” he complained [via NME.com]. “The haters aren’t going to win,” he added with resolve.
And what exactly are the critics saying? The album isn’t due for a U.S. release just yet, so SPIN has yet to chime in, but here are some samples from the U.K. press: “If Borrell spouted any more hot air you could mount him on the wall by the urinals and dry your hands underneath him,” says The Guardian. “Nowhere near as bad as Razorlight’s second album (but then, few records are),” said The Times. Also from The Times: “A genuinely inciteful record – it inspires the listener to murderous thoughts.” And NME called Borrell “empty, yet full of ambition and a lust for success that borders on dementia.” You’d fight back, too!
What’s more, if anyone thinks Borrell is going to take his “loathsome” self solo, they’ve got another thing coming. “It’s total rubbish,” he told The Daily Star. “I’ve never said I want to release a solo album. Noel Gallagher writes the songs for Oasis, but he doesn’t get the amount of flak I get.”
