= September 2010 =
Written by:
Phil McMullen
Ian Fraser
Simon Lewis (Editor)
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= September 2010 = |
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Written by: |
The Chemistry Set | |
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Phil McMullen |
Streets on Fire | |
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Ian Fraser |
V/A - A Phase We're Going Through | |
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Simon Lewis (Editor) |
Hausfrauen Experiment | |
| Hookfoot | ||
| V/A Psychedelica 4 | ||
| Terrapin Pond | ||
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THE CHEMISTRY SET – THIS DAY WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN
It is with great delight that Terrascope can announce the release of a brand new album by The Chemistry Set. 'This Day Will Never Happen Again' (Hypnote), which will be released worldwide in October but is already available in France and Spain on Dead Bees Records www.deadbees.com, is a collection of mostly mainstays Paul Lake and David Mclean compositions except for three covers, including Jagger/Richard’s “We Love You” and Del Shannon’s “Silver Birch”. As you might expect this is top-notch psychedelic pop, so good in fact it could pretty much all have been culled from the excellent “Chocolate Soup” compilation were it not for the fact that these are no mere 60s retreads but excellent songs in their own right that betray Lake and Mclean’s unerring sensibility for thoroughly cracking tunes. Out of the starting blocks, “El Roturno” is how Chris Isaak should have sounded like in his heyday and sets the deliciously high standard for what follows. “She’s Taking Me Down” is the pinnacle of this astonishingly good collection, but “Seeing Upside Down”, “Look Into The Sky” and “If Rome Was Meant To Fall” all give it a damn good run for the gold medal. And there’s any number of others that could lay claim to the title of best in class if I’m honest.
There is a perceptible shift in style during the bonus tracks as The Chemistry Set wheel out their Catalan Connections (they are practically Anglo-Spaniards these days) and whilst the appeal of these is perhaps not as immediate a subsequent listen or two soon banishes any notion that they might represent an inferior tailing off of quality. It is absolutely criminal that two men this talented aren’t household names and living in the lap of luxury. To help rectify this you should all go out and buy this (or sit at home and point and click at the screen) the moment it comes to your neck of the wood. Seriously good stuff, then, and let’s hope that, in choosing the album title, the boys are being unnecessarily pessimistic and that lightning will strike for them again. (Ian Fraser) |
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THE STREETS ON FIRE – THIS IS FANCY
The ironically titled “This is Fancy” by Chicago’s The Streets on Fire takes 60s garage punk, shakes it up with some angular Talking Heads and a measure of Franz Ferdinand, gives it all a savage twist and works it into a lo-fi fuzz-ball of high octane, mashed up dancehall mosh. Add to that a singer named Chadwick who sounds like he’s clawing at the walls of the panic room with just a fuzz-tone microphone to save him and what you end up with is a very agreeable noise indeed. Tunes such as “No One’s Fucking to the Radio”, “The Basement” and “Chadwick Shut-Up” post a pretty direct statement of intent that is the very antithesis of the album title. Slow it down just a tad and get it nice and moody and you get the cloying menace of “Hey Lou” and the desperately stalking “Hello from Eastern Europe”. Best of all though is the unhinged “Astronaut Love Triangle” on which Chadwick sounds like David Eugene Edwards might, were he to ever take a sharp left turn off the path of righteousness. Eleven tracks clocking in at 33 minutes suggests that there is very little waste here and that’s true enough. On first hearing this I had one small criticism which was that the album seemed to peak too early as a result of which there appeared to tread a bit of water towards the end. A subsequent listen reveals why every good album deserves at least two visits, but then this is more than just a good album - it really does impress from start to finish. Not only that but you just know that The Streets on Fire are going to be a live act you’d be loathe to miss. Catch them if you can, but in the meantime if you like your music short, loud and scuzzy and you only buy one album this month, then look no further. (Ian Fraser) |
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – VOLUME 11: A PHASE WE’RE GOING THROUGH
Here are a couple of real highs, courtesy of the very fine Fruits de Mer Records from Waltham-on-Thames, a small but perfectly formed vinyl-only label (though mercifully for your vinyl-free reviewer they provide promo-CDs).
“Volume 11: A Phase We’re Going Through” deviates from the usual script in that this is the Fruits’ first album and features 11 new versions of mostly late 60s psychedelic mini-classics by new acts such as the always excellent The Luck of Eden Kane (covering The Monkees’ “Love Is Only Sleeping”) The Swims (doing justice to July’s “My Clown”), the Chemistry Set’s take on Del Shannon’s “Silver Birch” (also featured on their new album reviewed in this month’s Rumbles) and a far-out “Little Wing” by Cranium Pie, all of which feature on the promo CD sent hither. These four are all cracking versions soaked exquisitely in phase and flange that whet’s the appetite for the rest of the album, sadly not available on the promo. What we do get is a 6 minute mix of excerpts of all 11 tracks including homage to Pink Floyd (“Point Me At The Sky”) and Jefferson Airplane (”Plastic Fantastic Lover”) as well as lesser known acts such as Caleb and Clouds, which as you might imagine is bitty but infinitely preferably to anything Jive Bunny ever inflicted on us. Fu
By contrast “Volume 12: The Hausfrauen Experiment” is a 2 x 7” vinyl release courtesy of them crazy Hausfrauens, namely Tracy, Vyolette and Lisa (who hail from the UK and not, as might be supposed, from Germany). “Volume 12…” comprises of four magnificently playful retro/futuristic synth based reinterpretations of songs by Silver Apples (“Oscillations”), Hawkwind (“Spirit of the Age”), Eno (“Baby’s On Fire”) and Cockney Rebel (“Sebastian”). The Eno one is, if push came to shove, my favourite but the others are all excellent as well. If you can imagine a tasteful and tasty electro-stew of Kraftwerk, Death in Vegas and the Flying Lizards imaginatively as interpreted by French and Saunders and performed by mischievous sweethearts then not only does your imagination do you credit but you’re already half way to liking this somewhat atypical release from the usually psych-fixated Fruits people. Here, then, is a precious little offering hugely deserving of your love and attention. It certainly reduced me to a grinning fool. More please. (Ian Fraser) |
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HOOKFOOT – A PIECE OF PYE
The Japanese reissues of revered 1970s rockers Hookfoot’s four albums, plus the previously unreleased collection of early recordings ‘A Piece of Pye’, are not exactly easy to get hold of – but oh, my goodness do they ever repay your investment of time, money and effort with rich rewards.
The band’s four albums, listed above in chronological order beginning with their 1971 self-titled debut and closing with their hard to find 1973 swansong collection ‘Roaring’, are all padded out with additional recordings that date from around the same time as each release. The die-hard fan (and there must be another one out there somewhere!) will probably have all the extra songs as they each appeared in 1975 on the posthumous Hookfoot double LP compilation ‘Headlines’: a cover of Stephen Stills’ ‘Bluebird’ on ‘Hookfoot’, the Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’ on ‘Good Times a’ Comin’’, James Taylor’s ‘Fire & Rain’ on ‘Communication’ (for my money the band’s strongest album overall) and the Byrds’ ‘So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star’ on ‘Roaring’.
Other, earlier, songs from ‘Headlines’ also appear on the ‘A Piece of Pye’ collection: the bluesy filler ‘S.B.W.’ [Sonny Boy Williamson] and the guitar heroics tour-de-force jamthat is ‘Shoeshine Boy’ – oh, dear Lord how well I remember that one blowing my socks off when I first heard it as a teenager! The remaining material on ‘A Piece of Pye’ was completely new to me – early recordings by the sound of it, all of them credited to guitarist
There's a fair bit of other un-re-released still languishing on 'B' sides of various singles as well, including 'Heart to Heart Talking', 'Red Man', 'Freedom (Nobody's Shoes), 'Hookfoot' (the song the band became named after, apparently due to drummer Roger Pope's habit of hooking his wayward kit back towards him while playing) and 'The Opener' (original B-side of 'Sweet Sweet Funky Music' from Good Times a' Comin'). Plus, the live album that I must confess had a hand in releasing via the SPM label in Germany back in the early 1990s is also overdue for some reissue attention.
None of this detracts however from the superb quality of these reissues. The covers are exact, detailed reproductions of the originals in miniature, right down to - get this - the dimpled card stock used on original copies of the first two Hookfoot LPs. Even the title sticker on the 'Communication' album is an actual piece of paper pasted on top of the Rizla packet lettering, again as it was on the original - later reissues didn't have this, and as it was hand-done every one is in a slightly different place, or sometimes at a different angle. The 'Piece of Pye' album also includes some liner notes by Caleb Quaye himself, which is a really nice touch.
Seriously, if I had unlimited funds I'd seek to replace every CD in my collection with one of these Japanese paper sleeve reissues! I notice this is already Vol. 69 in the "British Legends" series so I've got some serious digging ahead of me it seems. More on the mighty Hookfoot meanwhile can be read in our feature on the band from a while back: Hookfoot (Phil McMullen) |
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PSYCHEDELICA 4 - VARIOUS ARTISTS
Since their inception in 2006, Northern Star has attempted to introduce new psychedelia to the masses, both through their on-line store and through their excellent compilation series which has now reached part 4, a massive double disc brimming with quality.
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TERRAPIN POND - HELLO ALL STATIONS
Anyone seeing the name of this band and album would be forgiven for thinking there may be a slight Grateful Dead influence going on in their music. One Listen to “A Call to Arms”, the opening song , would only confirm this idea, the vocal delivery in particular reminding you of early seventies Dead, the appearance of banjos and a floating solo only strengthening the feeling, although you will also find yourself singing along to a rather fine tune as well, not really caring who else it sounds like, especially as the following song removes your original thoughts, being a beautifully constructed and executed tune that reminds me of the little known Apothecary Hymn, whose album “Trowel and Era” is a personal fave. It seems like a good idea from the band to wear their influences on the opening song, getting the obvious comparisons out of the way early on, allowing the listener, to spend the rest of the disc bathing in some delightful psych/folk/country/americana, which, although reminding you of the whole late 60's/early 70's, let's go live in the country vibe, is also fresh, exciting and frankly beautiful.
All this is not really surprising when you consider that the album was written, produced, mixed and engineered by Craig Morris, a man responsible (Along with Robert Schneider)) for the excellent Garage/Psych band Thee American Revolution, whose “Buddha Electrostorm” album was a brilliant collection definitely worthy of your time. Here, Craig is joined by multi instrumentalists, Jason and Justin Mckendree (banjo, mandolin, lap steel, cello, keys), plus drummer Brandon Gillham, and a handful of guest, the whole album ringing with charm, perfect playing and strong songwriting that will have you reaching for the repeat button.
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ll marks to the Fruits for avoiding the obvious and the over-mined from the era – this is a thoughtful miscellany of curios and delights for your delectation. Groove on this!
Caleb Quaye, and sadly none of them with the possible exception of ‘You Better Get On’, a showcase bluesy groover that sounds like it might’ve been the highlight of their live set at the time, up to the standard of the stunning ‘The Way of the Musician’ debut 45 released on Page One in France which unfortunately remains un-re-released to this day. It’s must be a contender for some future late 60s compilation, surely, just as Caleb Quaye's 'Baby Your Phasing is Bad' recorded immediately pre-Hookfoot is a something of a staple requirement.
