POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Blur Seeks Magic in American Tour

“La la la la la, oh, he wants to go to magic America,” sang Blur vocalist Damon Albarn early in the band’s set at the Palace on Saturday. The sarcastic bite dripping from his delivery was, after 30 years of English bands being measured by their success Stateside, a bit refreshing.

Ironically, Blur--a quartet augmented on this tour by a keyboard player--is a rare case of an English pop phenom that could measure up in this “magic” land. One sign was the Beatlemaniacal squeals that accompanied the group’s entrance and the openings of the KROQ-familiar songs “Girls & Boys” (a clever look at modern sexuality that was one of this summer’s catchiest singles) and 1991’s “There’s No Other Way.” But it’s the uncommon appeal and quality of the band’s songs that really make the case for Blur’s potential U.S. glory.

Blur’s songs are, in fact, quintessentially English: alternately forceful and pastoral meditations on distinctively English characters and conditions in the noble tradition of the Kinks, Mott the Hoople, the Jam and XTC. Albarn didn’t show the dramatic flair of a Ray Davies or Ian Hunter, but he’s got enough natural charisma to approach that level.

Just inviting such comparisons is a remarkable leap from the vaguely promising debut of three years ago, when Blur seemed stuck behind the likes of EMF and Jesus Jones.

Is it enough to conquer America? We’ll see.