POP MUSIC REVIEW : McCulloch Stands Firm at the Embassy

Quick as some of the tempos tended to be, Ian McCulloch was the very model of immobility for most of his show on Friday at the Embassy Theatre--both hands on the mike stand, both feet planted squarely at its base, eyes closed, overhead lighting illuminating his inverted pyramid of poufy hair but hardly ever his apparently expressionless face. He’s like a very shy and/or very drowsy Jim Morrison.

McCulloch’s introversion actually serves him well on record. His first solo album since quitting Echo & the Bunnymen, “Candleland,” is frequently touching even in its vaguest moments, with emotions of despair and honest contrition that ring deep, dark, true and occasionally even optimistic.

But the record’s resurrectional potential seemed lost in this downcast Good Friday concert--its uneven musical textures reduced to a jangly Euro-rock blur, the thematically obscure lyrics rendered sonically obscure as well, leaving only the much hook-ier handful of Bunnymen hits that were brought back from the grave to make much impression. His very private vision is best experienced at home.