Wednesday, September 23, 2009
They weren't really noticed much Stateside really but the 6 or 7 albums they put out in the late 80’s, early 90’s were, for the most part, some of the most interesting music being made then. I saw them a couple of times in tiny clubs in NYC and they were great but on record they were better. A weird mix of classic pop, noisenik guitar and the Beach Boys - what was there not to like. Songs like Jimmy Webb is God sum them up. Pretty openings, big harmonies, then bang…huge Glenn Branca style guitar. Great stuff. If you had to start somewhere then it must be Giant Steps – their meisterwerk. From the loping reggae of Lazarus (which everyone seems to refer to as their signature song – not sure I agree but it’s pretty good tho’) to Wishing I was Skinny (don’t we all) it’s a consistently brill album. At the other end of the spectrum is Kingsize – their last album. It’s more mature, looser, not so spiky. But great songs. Martin Carr is brilliant – it’s a shame he’s all but disappeared into child rearing. Maybe they’ll come back and reform for a couple of weeks – like everyone else has. In between those two albums there’s other great stuff just waiting to be discovered. Please don’t lump them into the Britpop bag – they were better than most of that, although I think a lot of it actually was pretty good (we’ll talk about Ride later). If you don’t have time then check out the single Wake Up Boo. Their only real hit (#1 in the UK
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