It’s depressing how lame Tallulah is, because it takes steps in the right direction. A lot of people complain about the production dragging this album down, but that’s only partially true. The Go-Betweens have always had bad production before 16 Lovers Lane. Albums like Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express were good in spite of their production, not because of it. The problem here is this album is missing what that one had underneath the production flaws: great songwriting. Tallulah just falls off there and fails to deliver many memorable tunes, and when the band are onto a good thing then the album’s particular odd production choice of drum machines drags it down.

In many ways, Tallulah‘s production is far better than the previous albums. The band is slowly moving away from that flat, thick sound that prevented the fluttery instrumentation from really soaring on previous albums, into what made 16 Lovers Lane a work of beauty. The addition of Amanda Brown is the most significant cause, her violin, oboe, and rare vocals adding color to a band whose personality demanded more of it.

The Go-Betweens are starting to sound better on Tallulah, but they don’t back the superior palette up with songwriting to easily convince of that fact. Too ’80s? 16 Lovers Lane sounds incredibly ’80s, and it’s only the better for it. Take the mechanical drum beats out of a band that strives to be organic and confessional and you’d improve Tallulah a lot off the bat, but what’s underneath is still rarely much to get excited about. “Right Here” is as fluffy and effective as much of the band’s best tracks, and the rare darker atmosphere of “The House That Jack Kerouac Built” is pulled off well enough to make it a highlight. One step forward, two steps back.