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Punk 45: I’m a Mess! (Various Artists)

D-I-Y or Die! Art, Trash, & Neon
Punk 45s in the UK 1977-78
(2022, CD, Soul Jazz Records)

Recently, I have discovered that this compilation is in fact part of a series of punk compilations from Soul Jazz Records that started in 2013 under the “brand” name of “Punk 45,” with each release given a title borrowed from one of the songs on the disc, a subtitle describing the overall style, and a sub-subtitle covering the specific period.

The one we’re reviewing in this case, for example, is the most recent original compilation, though the label reissued the first disc in the Punk 45 series, “Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself!” on vinyl only in 2024, which I view as symbolic of society’s general regression but is more honestly probably an attempt to lift the comp series out of obscurity.

Before we dive in, a brief clarification: the track listing on the back of I’m a Mess! might have been the actual running order at one point in the production process, but it’s not the one we actually get — a truly DIY sort of error, you might say. The correct song order is reflected below.

Overall, this is a compilation of indie punk singles released in the UK in 1977 and 1978, a sampler rather than a comprehensive collection. Now that the background is out of the way, let’s dive in.

The Art Attacks – “I am a Dalek”
Well you know this title is going to grab my attention, given my lifetime love of the TV show “Doctor Who.” And indeed, what’s more punk than a Dalek? Their entire worldview is that everyone but themselves are unworthy and should either be subjugated or killed. It defines punk rock right from the start with three chords, a cloud of dust from furious playing, barely-tuneful singing and multi-tracked Dalek chanting.

The Drive – “Jerkin’”
Rock has a history of songs about masturbation, which is funny because people often join rock bands as much to get hooked up with groupies as they do to make music. This one is far more tuneful than “I am a Dalek” and has a more polished rock sound that betrays their pub rock background.

A lot of bar bands devolved into punk rockers when they observed which way the wind was blowing, and went right back to their usual styles a year or two later, let’s be honest

Jonny & The Self Abusers* – “Saints and Sinners”
Speaking of masturbation, this band is the forerunner of Simple Minds, a band you generally don’t think of when the work “punk” is in the conversation. But by damn, they do a nice job of putting the bass up front on their take on fast punk. The song matter is simple, but well sung and with a bit of harmony thrown in. Nice drop-dead ending also, the first on this album but a common exit for many punk songs.

(*this is how the band’s name is spelled on this compilation; I have seen the name spelled a bit differently elsewhere)

Trash – “Priorities”
Trash have a pretty good vocalist and (gasp!) backing vocals. Like Jonny and the Self Abusers — the bass is the anchor here, alongside the (talented) drummer. Punk is about very simple song structures and simple messages, and this embodies that principle.

The Carpettes – “Help, I’m Trapped”
Speaking of backing vocals, this one is so fast it’s almost punk rapping, with the chorus handled by the rest of the band (with a bit of echo) to give it a distinct sound. A good example of a song that doesn’t outstay the strength of its concept, like a few others here.

Stormtrooper – “I’m a Mess”
The title track of the compilation. The backdrop of chords gives us some under-melodies to add a bit of sophistication (just a bit) to the usual wall of guitar, drum, and vocals. This is an example of punk as being reflective of what was going on in Thatcher’s England.

The Electric Chairs – “So Many Ways”
Wait, what’s this?? GIRLS?? Well I never! And the guitar isn’t the lead instrument, rather a drum machine is? And is that … a sitar? What the blazes is going on? A hint of synth? Robotic “singing”? Did this band time-travel back four years from 1981?

Clearly this is where DIY ethic mentioned in the title comes in. One has to remember that sounding like robots was a fresh take on a punk vocal at the time. I do actually believe I can detect a hint of melody in here as well. Seven singles in, and punk is already evolving! I’m happy to see some female representation at this early stage.

Social Security – “I Don’t Want My Heart to Rule My Head”
Things are just going from bad (as in amateurish) to worse (not very punk, really) with this ahead-of-its-time New Wave-ish anti-love lament. Our narrator really, really wants you to know he’s not interested in a long-term relationship, so his idea here is that this must be anti-rock music, in that he’s not doing this pull groupies — or, apparently, get famous.

Neon Hearts – “Venus Eccentric”
Finally, frenetic sax makes its punk debut. The song consists of the singer complaining about what a bad relationship he’s in, but apparently the sex is great, so I have to give him points for broaching what would become a universal theme in rock music. Bonus points for a fast-paced but distinctive guitar solo.

The Cybermen – “Cybernetic Surgery”
Some punters with ambition and cultural references to Doctor Who (again) provide us what the punks always said they were like emotionally. There is some early vocoder use to make a sort of “cyber” vocal here and there. Musically quite catchy, with a sax break in the middle. As ruthlessly efficient as the monster they are named after.

The Killjoys – “Naive”
Now here’s a real punk song — the singer blaming other people and society in general for his ills. There’s some female vocals supporting the chorus of “I’m bitter” which sadly devolves into various moaning/screaming.

The Reducers – “Things Go Wrong”
More women! And another song about blaming others for the world’s ills, or your specific ills. It doesn’t have the frenetic pace of first-wave punk songs, but it certainly has the attitude and “bad relationships with various entities” subject matter down pat.

Johnny Moped – “No One”
This song takes the opposite approach — its message is that I am no one, and no one is going to make me feel bad. The lead singer brings a distinct northern accent to the party. Punk failed to get away from the “guitar player needs a solo, however short it might be” mentality of rock pretty early on, but this one finishes with a more typical hard-rock ending.

Neon – “Bottles”
Strange sounds in a loop a the beginning, possibly produced by bottles on guitar strings (GET IT?). Vocals pushed back in the mix on the verses, but not on the chorus — hmmm — and they sound like hippies that have been ordered to go punk. It’s not very good, but at least it’s short.

V2 – “Speed Freak”
Air raid sirens enter the chat as a song intro .. at last. A fast rap of verses followed by the simple chorus of (mostly) “Speed freak yeah.” Not the first song here that has been poorly mixed, either.

The Exile – “Fascist DJ”
A complaint rant about a club DJ who wouldn’t take requests. Literally, that’s it.

Lucy – “Feels So Good”
Now here we have a song tailor-made for pogoing, with an urgent beat and a DIY lyric about the DIY ethic. Moves along at a fast clip, which makes the guitar solo more work (and shorter) than it would otherwise be.

Machines – “True Life”
Old-school punk/rap with a lyric about facing up to the fact that the world sucks and it won’t get any better. Nihilist, maybe, but not wrong.

Dansette Damage – “N.M.E.”
Ah, yes, the old “song starts at one tempo in the intro, then picks up a different tempo when the lyrics start” trick. As you might guess, this song is about a fellow obsessed with the New Musical Express newspaper (I guess you could say it was his “enemy” — thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week). The title eventually becomes all, and the song devolves from there, as is proper and correct for obsession songs.

Is this compilation worth your time? If you have an interest in unsung OG punk rock, then yes — there are some gems here amongst the mediocrity. It hasn’t aged poorly, I will say that for it, but I’ll also say it is mostly pretty clear why these bands didn’t advance within the movement.

One last note: the vinyl version of this compilation featured a bonus single for Record Store Day 2022 that included a b-side which is not part of the CD version. Both the a- and b-side of the single contained songs by the band Stormtrooper. The a-side was the title song in the compilation, “I’m a Mess.” The extra song on the b-side is “It’s Not Me.”

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The Stiff Records Box Set – Disc 4

The Stiff Records Box Set — Disc 4
Stiff Records, 1992
4CD box set + booklet

THE PROLOGUE

Well, here we are at last, the final disc in this set, chronicling the last days of Stiff as an active record label roundabouts the mid-80s. Many of the acts Stiff first signed and/or made famous moved on to bigger record labels and more money, and Robinson and Riveria were forced to cast an ever wider net.

It’s a label that kicked off with Nick Lowe because he had already recorded to “publisher demos” at other companies’ expense, so the cost of releasing that very first Stiff single was a staggering £45. Thankfully, it did well – and the rest of the history is encapsulated here.

As mentioned previously, the tracks on these discs are in rough, rather than exact, chronological order, but on the other end of this Stiff journey we alight on the pub rock band Dr Feelgood, still going to this day as an entertainment entity but with a completely different lineup. You might wonder what a mid-70s traditionalist UK rock band is doing here, but they are part of Stiff history for two reasons.

First, singer Lee Brilleaux was the man who lent Jake Riveria and Dave Robinson the 400 quid they needed to register Stiff as the UK’s first independent record label. Second, they were a pretty damn good pub-rock band by the time they finally recorded with the label.

THE MUSIC

Things kick off with “Sign Of The Times” — a nice, poppy single from The Belle Stars, an all-female group that should have gone further than they did. I’m happy that their biggest single was one of their own originals, rather than the cover versions they had been doing for a while prior to that. Prince obviously liked the title also!

The follow-up single from the band is also included here, “Sweet Memory” as the second track on this disk, and it failed to crack the top 20 despite some pretty groove-y instrumentation. It’s certainly not as good as “Sign of the Times,” but it’s not awful either. I think the “aggressive/tough” style vocal on “Sweet Memory” is what hurt it.

Stiff was not doing as well by the time 1983-84 rolled around, and this disc is low on hits (but not without them). The label signed a bunch of new bands as their older acts left for bigger labels, and Electric Guitars is one of those. To be fair, the New Wave edge had faded by this point, but the “angular” attempts at cool had devolved into a similar style for a lot of bands.

It makes sense that the Guitars’ “Language Problems” would follow “Sweet Memory,” since it is rather similar: musically very competent, vocals rather odd.

Thankfully, the fourth song on the CD is a bona fide hit that still gets me dancing to this day: Tracey Ullman’s version of Jackie DeShannon’s “Breakaway,” a sped-up 60s girl-group song that infused extra energy and Ullman’s own sparkly vocals into an irresistible treat. Two minutes and 37 seconds of absolutely perfect pop.

This is followed by a song that might have made it but missed it by this much, Passion Puppets’ “Like Dust.” Musically, it has the moves, the vocals aren’t bad, there’s no reason this harder-rock mainstream number couldn’t have done reasonably well, and yet it didn’t. I can only imagine that the collapse of Stiff in 1984 contributed to the band’s failure to put out more than a single album.

Likewise, “Dangerous Dreams” by Jakko sounds like perfect FM radio fodder, but went nowhere just the same.

But now, time for something different: King Kurt launches “Destination Zululand” at us with a Tempole Tudor style and a bad Elvis impression. This sounds more like the happier days of the label, and it’s competently performed but silly. Not great, but certainly fun.

If you had trouble deciphering exactly what King Kurt is saying at all times on his song, wait till you get a load of poster-boy-for-dental-work Shane McGowan and the Pogues, who debut in this set at last with “The Sick Bed of Cuchulain,” a rollicking 100-proof Irish punk-folk hit complete with tinwhistle. McGowan alternately snarls and rocks it in this tale, which draws from Irish folklore based on an actual 11-century (lost) Yellow Book of Slane.

The next track is absolutely not what you might expect following The Pogues: “Pick Me Up” by the Inspirational Choir of the Pentecostal First Born Church of the Living God. True to their name, its an African-American church choir singing Christian Rock (or more accurately, inoffensive jazz-pop). It … um … certainly stands out among the songs on this disc.

A band remarkably like peak post-punk band The Jam, but they’re called Makin’ Time, borrow the bass riff from “Town Called Malice” for their own very-nearly-as-good version, “Here Is My Number.” It’s a rousing soul-infused rocker, but … you can’t get that other song out of your head when listening to it.

Three of the four members remained active in the music business into the 21st century, with Makin’ Time bassist Martin Blunt eventually joining The Charlatans.

Time to check back in with The Pogues, doing that Pogues-thing they do so well, with a catchy, bouncy Irish … lament … called “Dark Streets of London.” If you’re reading this, you must know The Pogues, even if you can’t stand McGowan’s vocal style, so you know that musically they are both firmly reflective of Ireland’s musical heritage, while infusing the music with the energy and spittle of punk.

We mentioned earlier The Belle Stars as a band that should have been bigger: well here’s another one — The Untouchables. They briefly grabbed the brass ring of exposure and US fame with a later single “Free Yourself,” but “Wild Child” is exactly the same kind of soul-powered rock stomper. I’m reminded to go back and investigate these guys more as well.

Kristy MacColl returns to give us another fantastic song of hers, “A New England.” Sparkling guitars frame a confessional song about a broken relationship and touching on teen pregnancy, bracketed by absolutely inspired lyrics.

Here’s a sample: “I saw two shooting stars last night/I wished on them, but they were only satellites/it’s wrong to wish on space hardware/I wish, I wish, I wish you cared,” and even more so “Once upon a time at home/I sat beside the telephone/Waiting for someone to pull me through/When at last it didn’t ring I knew it wasn’t you.” Genius!

One of Jamie Rae’s two singles ever released, “Pretty One” is included here, and it’s a pleasant enough pop song, but the young Scottish singer only released one other single. Though he found some considerable fame from those two records, he suddenly withdrew from pop music following the unexpected death of his mother from leukemia. Somewhere in a vault, there’s half an album more stuff from him, but as yet it’s not escaped that I know of.

Starting off with a driving groove, 60s mod styling, and a killer bass riff and wonderful call-and-response between lead singer/guitarist Clyde Grimes and the rest of the band, a ska-like touch of horns and synth organ, “Free Yourself” by The Untouchables managed to get some airplay and exposure on MTV and US radio with this irresistable track. As someone used to say back in the day, “if this don’t get in your head, check yourself — you may be dead!”

Speaking of energy, The Pogues waltz back in with another fast-paced Irish punk ballad, “Sally MacLennane.” A punk-pop take on Irish traditional music doesn’t get any better than this. The drunken-voiced callback in the chorus is the perfect finishing touch. Two minutes and 43 seconds of pure boozy bliss.

Then, suddenly, without proper warning: deep-voiced art-rock New Wave! It’s Furniture’s best single (in my opinion), “(You Must Be Out of Your) Brilliant Mind,” with extra-weird bass tomfoolery in the chorus and occasionally elsewehre, synth strings, a New York angry sax break, full of witty lyrics and oddly danceable. It’s … wait for it … brilliant.

From the “Not Really Our Thing So Much, But It Kinda Works, Mate” department, we finally get to Dr. Feelgood, a band that was a staple of the pub-rock circuit which originally formed in 1971, making them antiquated geezers by this point. The band was anchored by singer Lee Brilleaux, but had a rotating cast of other players.

For their single for Stiff, the label gave them some synths to play with, and the result is the smoky ballad “Don’t Wait Up,” which sits a little oddly with most of the other Stiff artists but is in fact a good song well-performed with just a splash of blues.

This is followed by outright bebop jazz from the Tommy Chase Quartet with a song called “Killer Joe (Right Cross)” — no chaser, just straight shots at a quick clip. As per tradition, the piano and sax get their moment of spotlight. What the huh? 50s jazz on Stiff? What the blazes is going on?

Oh wait, whew — Furniture return to get back in the zeitgeist with a return to their cool romantic artiness, courtesy another single a-side “Shake Like Judy Says.” Oddly, it’s not really a bad placement between Tommy Chase and Dr Feelgood — the song features a jazz-tinged trumpet line (and a little xylophone), which are both given some brief prominence amongst the synth/bass/drum/guitar main sounds.

Dr. Feelgood closes out the show with an unexpected redneck anthem, “Hunting Shooting Fishing,” that at least shows off how the band normally operated, and as you might have guessed, they’re not trying for high art. This is pub rock aimed squarely at working-class club audiences, complete with driving lead guitar and drums, plenty of echo on Brilleaux, and what almost manages to be a song for the monster truck crowd. ZZ Top could only wish they rocked this raucously.

THE BOOKLET

Just before we head for the exit on this review, we have to mention – at long last – the one and only thing included in this box set that is not a CD in a jewel case (which also includes an insert card with the table of contents for each disc, also reprinted on the back card) is a 20-page booklet that tries to set the stage for the creation of Stiff and the state of UK rock music at the time, impart a little data about its founders (including police mug shots!), and outline some of the label’s whacky slogans, which really gave it character. These ranged from the enigmatic “Three Nos Don’t Make a Yes” to the punkier “If It Ain’t Stiff It Ain’t Worth a Fuck” and the wry “We Came, We Saw, We Left” (or as the ancient Romans might have said, “Venimus, Vidimus, Reliquimus). Me, I always liked their on-label saying on many of their singles, “Electrically Recorded.”

We then get in the story about the early singles, starting with Nick and his costs-already-covered first single “So It Goes,” which came out on August 14th, 1976, and hit number one in the US two weeks after it was released. “Heart of the City,” the b-side, made a greater impact on the UK music papers, and between the two songs Jake and Dave were able to pay off the initial loan that started the ball rolling.

After a kerfuffle with EMI over the use of a Beatles’ “baby butcher” unused cover for a Roogalator single, Stiff got in the habit of releasing a single and then quickly “deleting” it from the catalog, which turned out to have the effect of encouraging stores to order more copies upfront. On top of that, they’d let artists or producers scratch messages in the runout groove (no, that wasn’t really a thing until Stiff came along). Genius!

The booklet continues with various tales like that, celebrating itself and writing about both its early wins and some of its early losses – for example, the classic “Alison” by Elvis Costello completely failed to chart on its debut. Luckily, the album did a bit of business (wink). It also chronicles the departure of Jake Rivera, taking Lowe, Costello, and Yachts with him to form another indie label, Radar.

It talks about the changing relationship with the ever-fickle and ever-bitchy UK music press, which once championed Stiff but quickly decided the new crop of acts were already old hat, and chronicles the Live Stiffs tours. As punk began to fade and the Two-Tone (another indie label) legend rose, Stiff signed Madness in a canny move.

By this point we’re in the early 80s, and Madness, Tenpole Tudor and Jona Lewie’s surprise hit “Stop the Cavalry” were helping keep Stiff in the charts, desperation was rolling in like fog and Stiff was throwing all kinds of … stuff … at the wall to see what stuck. Then, like a fortuitous lifeline, in 1983 Dave Robinson took an offer of being the Music Director of Island Records, and took the entire label roster with him.

This lasted until 1985 when Robinson and Island parted ways, and Stiff was back to struggling status. By 1986, Robinson could take the swinging between feast and famine anymore, and after a last short respite courtesy Cashmere (also home to the emerging ZTT label at the time), Robinson and Stiff were done.

The booklet carries on for a bit longer eulogising some of the things that made Stiff unique (such as signing Wazmo Nariz, the guy with two ties). It ends with a listing of Stiff Staff, and thank yous to those who helped put this compilation together.

THE WRAP UP

By the mid-80s, Stiff was flailing around wildly and desperate for hits. By this point, it was sailing on reputation and fumes, and the money was running out fast. That said, Discs 3 and 4 show that Stiff still had an eye for talent, and was still taking chances on an ever-increasing variety of artists even as the ship was starting to sink.

We owe this label and those two founding maniacs a great deal of gratitude for finding and publicising such a wide and clever array of new musical talent, and for helping make the very late 70s and early 80s a fookin’ great time to be a young person who loves great music. As the scores for these four CD s show, the hits outweighed the misses, and the legacy of the label is something Dave, Jake, and the artists can be proud of.

As a grave marker of sorts, this CD set is the finest tribute/chronology/potted history you’ll likely ever get of a UK indie record label. It is still a treasure box to me, 32 years (yikes!) since I first bought it. I’ve managed to buy it at least three times: my first copy was stolen in the mid-90s; another was so well-loved it fell apart; and this third one, thus far, has been treated with care. The little bit of velcro that keeps the box closed, on the other hand, has – on all my copies, and like much of this music – never failed me.

Great songs: 10
Good songs: 4
Meh songs: 7

Next time: Roxy Music!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

The Stiff Records Box Set — Disc 3

The Stiff Records Box Set — Disc 3
Stiff Records, 1992
4CD box set + booklet

THE PROLOGUE

We’ve already sampled 50 songs from the Stiff catalog, and my suggestion is you don’t do this in one sitting! It’s all (well, very high percentage) good-to-great stuff, and a snapshot of an era as well as a label. But will Punk-New Wave-Powerpop-Pub—Rock-Uncategorized fatigue set in? Let’s find out!

In response to some readers – yes, we’ll cover the booklet when we get to Disc 4, and yes, I probably should have done that with the Disc 1 review. Insert traditional UK two-finger wag … here.

THE MUSIC

If you were feeling a little fatigued from listening to (or just reading about) the first 50 songs, Disc 3 is here with a shot of Vitamin Groove to revive you. Stiff could hardly have picked two more energetic, get-up-and-dance-you-fool numbers than Madness’ mid-tempo-domestic-squabble-set-to-ska song “My Girl” to kick things off, and then followed it with Jamaica’s musical master Desmond Dekker’s insanely catchy 1968 reggae classic “Israelites.”

Joe “King” Carrasco (and The Crowns) has the uneviable duty to follow that, but does a decent job with his equally-partying and Wurlitzer-led Tex-Mex hit “Buena,” which of course incorporates some Spanish into the mix.

We shift gears with Graham Parker’s faux-punk rockin’ diatribe “Stupefaction,” complete with a snarling indictment of life in Los Angeles. It was the first single from his final album with the (uncredited) Rumour, The Up Escalator, and while the single didn’t chart, the album was his best-selling record to that point (1980). If you like the song and his attitude, you’ll enjoy the album.

Next up is a masterpiece of the New Wave era — a “love” song that probably could never have been written, performed, or been a success in any other era. Jona Lewie’s biggest hit, “You’ll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties,” was a song I identified with in my very early teen years, until I become the social butterfly I am today (heh).

It’s minimalist, it’s low-key, it’s monotone, and I love it (and it’s not like everything else he’s done). I’m sure it was intended as a “novelty” single, but it bypassed Doctor Demento and became a surprise Top 20 hit in the UK, reaching the #3 spot in New Zealand and parking there (on both charts) for weeks on end.

To the best of my knowledge, there’s only been one “cover” of this song … in 2010, a duo called Man Like Me took the backing track, replaced Lewie’s vocals with their own, and made a video. It’s not horrible, it’s not great, and it’s on YouTube if you want to see it.

If you’ve never heard the original, good lord people — listen to it RIGHT NOW. It’s an Awkward Teenager Redemption Anthem! Plus, this particular video features bonus Kirsty MacColl!

This is followed by the joyous power-pop of Any Trouble, with the song “Trouble With Love.” The group as a whole had its ups and downs, but I have always been a fan of anything lead singer and songwriter Clive Gregson cared to put down on tape — he does a great job of marrying upbeat pop with “unlucky in love” lyrics.

Dave (L.) Stewart — not the guy from the later Eurythmics — spent his time at Stiff mostly covering old songs, as far as I can tell. He had played with bands like Hatfield and the North in the 70s, but by 1981 he was putting out singles with guest vocalists.

The first of two such collaborations we’ll hear on this disc is “What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted,” with vocals by Colin Blunstone (formerly the singer for The Zombies) with some female backing vocals. The song, from 1966, was first recorded by the great soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, who really poured a sense of genuine heartache into it.

Almost every singer who has covered the song since has hewed very close to the original arrangement, but often don’t bring the anguish Ruffin did. It’s the same problem here: Stewart’s instrumentation, while nicely departing from the Ruffin arrangement, replaces it with a cold, synthy-piano-led, clinical style. Blunstone’s singing, while pleasant, is likewise perfunctory for the most part. We’re not looking forward to more of the same later.

Since the last song was so soulless, it follows that Graham Parker would have to follow with his sarcastic takedown of his (former by this point) record label, “Mercury Poisoning,” which is a rollicking complaint letter set to music. His new record company (Arista at the time) had no issues with it, but Parker didn’t last too long there either. This live version got licensed to Stiff and they ran with it, and emerged seemingly unscathed (at least, I’m unaware of any song by Parker with a play on the name Stiff …).

Dirty Looks was one of those bands that always seemed interesting, seemed promising, but at least for me they never managed to push it over the line into being a fan. “Let Go” is a nicely energetic and tuneful number with a great pre-chorus praising the rock n roll spirit embodied in the advice of the title. It’s a good single that probably should have done better than it did — see what you think:

Madness returns with their clown car of fun ska and “nutty boys” story-songs with “Baggy Trousers,” showing that their style had legs to cover more than just their first (brilliant) album. Madness by this point is a reliable and predictable brand, beloved by skinheads and grandmas alike. Nice trick if you can pull it off!

Dave Stewart returns, this time with regular partner Barbara Gaskin in tow, for another off-beat take on a standard: this time, “It’s My Party.” This version works better than Dave’s cover of “Broken Hearted,” because the song was a torch song in the first place, and so performing it like a morose ballad technically makes it a better version that Lesley Gore’s original, but I still prefer Gore’s version. The girl-group backing vocals just put the cherry on this synth-minimalist but perceptive cake.

Speaking of covers, John Otway’s take on the old country standard “The Green Green Grass of Home” is … well hang on, who is this person anyway? I confess I’m not that familiar with him, but he appears to be simply an eccentric musician who tries to do thing in his own unique way.

So, knowing that, it’s possible to appreciate this sometimes atonal, weirdly performed, nearly acapella first minute of the cover, followed by the full band kicking in and Otway singing a raucus version in the second half. It’s certainly a “chaser” between the first half and the second half of the disc, I’ll say that.

Following that, Tenpole Tudor swing around playfully with “Three Bells in a Row,” a tuneful song about “fruit machines,” (coin-operated UK roulette machines where you try to line up three items in a row, with the big winner being three bells). Frontman Ed Tudor-Pole is just out for a good time, and pretty much all the music I’ve heard from the band is the audio equivalent of a good-time pub crawl.

It was good choice to sequence Jona Lewie’s cheery (or as cheery as his deadpan voice allows) “Stop the Calvary” as the next track, as it keeps up the good mood and suddenly turns into a Christmas single unexpectedly (and it’s still played around Christmas time on UK radio to this day).

What’s next? The two songs by Department S you’re ever likely to have heard before, “Going Left Right” and “Is Vic There?” Oh but plot twist — the version of “Is Vic There?” is the French version! Qu’elle surprise!

The former song has a driving style with a lovely swirling synth dressing and snarky lyrics about disco dancing. I still like this song very much, and wish they’d done more in this vein, even though it’s the longest song on this disc (at four and a half minutes).

“Is Vic There?” is a fragment of a phone conversation turned into another catchy, intense yet danceable single, with both French and English lyrics. I should really look into the rest of their output, but I can only think of a handful of Department S songs I’ve ever heard, and they’ve all been good.

Here’s the English-language version of the track.

Now we come to a band called the Equators that I know nothing of other than this one song. “If You Need Me,” has a ska influence to it, and there’s nothing really wrong with the song other than it being a bland love tune, lyrically. It didn’t inspire me to investigate them further.

As if in reaction to the mediocrity of the Equators, Tenpole Tudor return to overturn the table, spike the punch, and swing from the chandelier in an attempt to bring the party back to life with “Wunderbar.” It’s not as energetic as punk in the verses, but it chugs along nicely and the chorus is a big drunk gang singing the word “wunderbar” and whistling as only a big drunk gang can. As good as it is, they get one-upped in due course.

“Allamana” is a quite forgettable number by Desmond Dekker, and was likely a b-side. Nuff said.

We shift gears pretty hard from this string of ska-jacent music with the arrival of Alvin Stardust and his urgent mission to put a new spin on the traditional 50s love ballad. Blessed with the smoothest voice this side of Buddy Holly, he ups the tempo, drips with echo, and has perfectly harmonious backup singers. It’s fabulous.

Billy Bremner of Rockpile (and Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds’ various other records) drops by with a serviceable but relaxed performance of a song called “Loud Music in Cars,” where the title is not only the subject, but the first words sung (and he has a pleasant-enough voice, though the influence of Lowe and Edmunds is keenly felt). It’s a simple Scottish pop song about a simple subject — loud music in cars is something Bremner enjoys, apparently. It somehow sticks in your head, though.

Oh, but then … Tenpole Tudor return to take us away from all that amiable-pop-rock crap with another stomper likely to be sung by football hooligans, “Throwing My Baby Out With the Bathwater,” a good-time breakup song.

This is stunningly well one-upped by a band called Pookiesnackenburger, who I am astonished to report managed not only to produce more than this one madcap song, but indeed produced two complete albums I really must investigate. “Just One Cornetto,” flatly, my favourite song on this disc by a long way.

Following some incomprehensible chatter, the song begins with a Madness-like call to action, becoming a party set to music and a delightfully mad lyric — a love song to an ice cream novelty, the beloved Cornetto. The whole thing is as delightfully mad as the band’s name, and all over in 2’26”. Love it.

Next is Via Vagabond with a driving, swinging jazz number called, brilliantly, “Who Likes Jazz.” It’s wonderfully performed with blazing piano, a touch of synth, but really driven by the drum-and-stand-up-bass 50s style tempo.

The disc concludes with Tracey Ullman with another slab of 60’s style girl-pop, with a beautifully clever title lyric — “you broke my heart in 17 places … Shepard’s Bush was only one.” The secret sauce behind Ullman was always Kirsty MacColl, and this is one of her cleverest songs.

This was part of Tracey’s debut album of the same name, mostly consisting of an eclectic array of remakes of well-known love songs, including Blondie’s “(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear,” and a lovely cover of Jackie DeShannon’s brilliant “Breakaway.” MacColl also contributed one of her songs she’d had a hit with herself, “They Don’t Know,” and Ullman’s version was a bigger hit than MacColl’s version — reaching the top 10 in the US and peaking at number two in the UK singles chart.

THE WRAP UP

The tracks on these discs are not arranged in strictly chronological order, but they do roughly follow the progression and diversification of the label, and we’re definitely seeing that here. Thankfully, Robinson’s ear and eye for talent remained true, but the number of Stiff acts that went on to bigger labels and greater success is a remarkable testament to that.

“Punk acts” on this compilation mostly consist of The Damned and Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, and they’re not heard from after the first CD here. That said, my personal rating of “great” songs goes up to a new high mark here . Here’s the score for CD number three:

GREAT SONGS: 14
GOOD SONGS: 6
MEH SONGS: 5

Next time: Disc 4 … and oh yeah, the booklet!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

John Foxx – Metamatic (3CD box set)

Disc 3 – Rarities

(2018, Metal Beat)

The third disc in the collection is the sonic equivalent of an attic clear-out: anything contemporaneous from the period around Metamatic that hasn’t already been committed to disc goes here.

There’s a fair number of instrumentals on offer, which often feel like audio notes regarding certain moods or sonic backdrops to be used elsewhere, and in some cases hinting at future ambient works. The disc finishes up with a handful of previously-rare demos made for the original album.

THE MUSIC

The overall quixotic feel of the disc is established almost immediately with the first two tracks. The curtain rises on “A Frozen Moment” — about a minute-and-a-half of beepy-boopy synth effects, a sonic notebook of wayward sounds that would later on find homes. Here, it serves as a scene-setting appetizer for the glorious steak that is track two, “He’s a Liquid (Instrumental Dub Version).”

It’s kind of hard to imagine a John Foxx karaoke event, but here’s your chance to try your hand at it. This version includes more of the echoey whistling of the original that, with the vocals not present, somehow adds a creepier effect to this already cold-wave classic.

“Mr No (Alternative Version”) is a similar but more basic version of the track we hear on Disc 2 of this set. Like some of the additional “Early Versions” we’ll hear later on this disc (and a few of the “Alternative Versions” we heard on the last one), this feels like a demo done on Foxx’s own equipment. That said, it follows the more polished official version that eventually made it as far as being a b-side pretty closely.

We now come to a section of songs not heard on any of the previous Metamatic reissues. These are some leftover sound beds, backgrounds, tone experiments and other bits of recorded emphemera, mostly without rhythm but with a sense of chasing down a set of beautiful and/or evocative synth sounds — a kind of sonic notebook that he thought might come in handy later.

We start with “The Uranium Committee.” The usual low-hum drone runs for a bit, then a cycling higher-hum wipe. This fades slowly out at the two-minute mark. It’s more like a backing sound set in search of a melody.

“A Man Alone,” however is more of a proper instrumental with a melody line, but is still mostly just synth noodling that seems to be an experiment in what sounds blend well together. This is Foxx experimenting with setting a mood before adding the beat that would drive something like this.

R2-D2 and the accompanying dark sci-fi vibe return in the aptly-titled “Terminal Zone.” This in particular would have made for some great soundtrack music in some then-future Doctor Who episode. Likewise, the fragment “Urban Code” is another mood piece of sinister machinery.

The mood lightens considerably with the melodic “A Version of You,” hinting at the romantic overtones that first showed up in the early “Like a Miracle” heard on Disc 2.

Speaking of that previous disc, we get to a proper full (albeit instrumental) song in the “Alternative Version” of “Glimmer.” The “official” version is the better of the two in my view, but both are very similar.

A synth wash drapes around the mostly-untreated piano of “Fragmentary City,” another of Foxx’s solid dreamscape soundtracks.

“Metamorphosis” is mostly some SynthFarts™ but also sounds like an early experiment with what would later become the “metal beat” sound. Listening to experimental tracks like this now, it’s helpful to recall that synths around this time had to be painstakingly hand-tweaked to produce sounds other than the pre-programmed ones.

These little recorded “workshops” are how Foxx arrived at many of the amazing sounds that finally graced the album proper, and drawings in his notebook would suggest that illustrations of the synth settings for easy re-creation were made when he was happy with what he heard.

“Approaching the Monument” is another soundscape, vaguely sound like a motorcycle revving against a backdrop of ambient low noise. It constantly threatens to turn into a further set of sounds, but never does.

The best collection of these synth experiments comes in the form of “Critical Mass,” which captures a number of key sounds — and even has some percussion! — that would later to be used to augment the songs on Metamatic.

This whole section of nerdy noodling will probably not be of interest even to most Foxx fans, but is the background research, if you will, that made the album what it became musically.

We end this section with the whimsically-titled “Alamogordo Logic,” a shorter compilation of potential synth settings.

To finish up the disc, we return to some actual pieces of music. The “Early Version” of “Touch and Go” kicks things off, in a faster but otherwise nearly-complete demo version of the song.

Foxx then moves into an almost House-like beat paired with a semi-succcessful vocal in “Miss Machinery,” a song where the vocals don’t quite work and doesn’t appear to have been developed further — despite an interesting melody — but has the great phrase “let me introduce my army.” With a bit more work, this could have made a decent b-side. It’s bursting with potential but just didn’t quite gel.

The last track is the “Early Version” demo of “No-One Driving,” remastered specifically for the White Vinyl and this version of the expanded Metamatic album.

This take is pretty awesome too, with a different opening sequence and no handclaps, some “ghost vocals” but otherwise very similar to what became the finished vocals, and exactly the same lyrics. It is, if you’ll pardon the pun, a real “high note” to end the box set on, and reminds listeners why they are fans of Foxx in the first place.

THE POSTSCRIPT

If you’ve been obsessed with the original album since it came out half a lifetime ago (!), you will want to own this box set, even the more experimental Disc 3. If you’re a more casual fan who enjoyed Metamatic but may have another Foxx solo album as your favourite, the 2007 Edsel 2CD reissue will probably tide you over very well — it has many but not quite all of the highlights found here.

If you really need all the “Alternative” and “Early” versions, though, and are willing to slog through some unfinished bits, you will want this much-superior 3CD version from 2018. The CD scores over any previous vinyl version (even if you prefer the latter format over the former) by way of the art cards, silvertone booklet, and the possibility of the autographed card.

Next time: The Neasden Queen of Soul!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

The Primitives: Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992 (Disc 5)

BBC Sessions 1986-1987 and Live at Bath Moles
(Cherry Red, 2020)

THE PROLOGUE

We’ve arrived at the “odds and sods” basement of this five-storey structure, having gone pretty chronologically from their earliest self-made recordings and through the course of their first three official albums. While we’ve had a few “live in the studio” songs, what we haven’t had so far is any live recordings.

Owners of Everything’s Shining Bright, the previous compilation of The Primitives’ early days, had what appears to be a full summer of 1987 concert at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Bloom! doesn’t include that particular concert, but replaces it with a different one, recorded live in Bath, England at the famous Moles nightclub, a club that encouraged home-grown talent and helped a shedload of popular bands get their start, from the 80s incarnation of King Crimson, to The Cure, to Eurythmics and many more contemporary acts.

I myself got to see a show there once — not of The Primitives, but another of my beloved underdog bands, Scotland’s Trashcan Sinatras. I have a taste for great indie rock bands that do great things artistically, but go almost nowhere commercially. It’s my background in high school and college radio to blame.

Moles sadly closed after a 45-year run in 2023. It was a more intimate club, with a capacity of just 220. The Primitives show included here takes up the second half of Disc 5, but before that we get various BBC Radio sessions the band did “live in the studio” across 1986 and 1987.

THE MUSIC

If you’ve made your way through these discs along with this review, or were just a fan of the band, you’ll known most of the songs done live for various BBC Radio hosts well. True to form, the group can perform these songs live nearly as well as with the luxury of a studio, with all the pop genius intact and only secondary guitar lines missing.

The set for Janice Long, in mid-June 1986, kicks off with a grunge-y take on “Really Stupid,” a fast number about a loudmouth lout that Tracy has had more than enough of. This is followed with “Nothing Left,” one of their best numbers but I’ll (still) be damned if I can quite figure out what its about — something about the joys of being unsociable is my best guess.

The band not having studio to work with makes the songs’ lyrics easier to hear (if still not always understand), and the hooks more obvious. You really gain an appreciation of the live configuration for drummer Tig Williams and bassist Paul Sampson, not to mention Tracy’s voice.

“Run Baby Run” is another song about someone leaving someone — this is an act that doesn’t want to get into specifics for some reason. “I’ll Stick With You,” by contrast, is about pairing up with someone because it’s getting dark.

A session for host Andy Kershaw exactly one month after the Janice Long get-together kicks off with “Where the Wind Blows” and its bass line, plus some echo on Tracy’s voice (supported by Paul on the sub-chorus). “Across My Shoulder” is another one of the band’s “breakup” songs, but not as catchy as “Really Stupid.”

I’ve enjoyed “Spacehead” many times, though as with most Primitives songs I’m not studying the lyrics very closely. It makes its second appearance on this box set here — a fast, snappy, almost Ramones-esque number about a strange lad that has caught Tracy’s eye.

What I didn’t mention earlier (and is even more obvious in this live version) is one of the more awkward lyrics in the band’s repertoire, with Tracy having to make “What is that boy on?/He’s a strange per-son” — pronounced as “per-sohn” — work somehow (twice!).

But never mind that, we’ve arrived at “Crash,” which is really, really missing its second guitar line when done live, along with the effective echo effect on the “shut” in “shut your mouth.” Yet another breakup song, but still an insanely good showcase of what the band is all about. This is the song you play for someone to get them into The Primitives.

For this particular performance, Tracy seems to be struggling to get the lyrics out as fast as the band wants to play, and I detect some small adjustments in tempo during the performance to accommodate.

The next session — the last for 1986 — was for the very famous DJ John Peel, well known for introducing new acts to the British public. While I have no doubt that he helped the career of The Primitives, it somehow didn’t turn out to be enough in the end. That said, we are in the early days of the band here, before they’d been signed to RCA.

This session kicks off with a very feedback-y and rockin’ version of “Stop Killing Me,” yet another song about leaving someone, that rocks very well thanks to the excellent band backup vocals and harder rock arrangement.

This is followed with “Shadow,” where Tig shifts to the tabla while Paul’s guitar is recreating the drone effect so prominent in traditional Indian music alongside Steve’s bass, fusing raga and pop very effectively with a mystical lyric.

Paul takes lead on “Buzz Buzz Buzz” as he usually does. The live version can’t take advantage of the overdubs and suffers some emphasis on the chorus because of it, but its still a wild 60’s-style number one might have imagined a young Elvis performing in one of his movies about falling head-over-heels for someone upon first meeting.

The last song for this session was a surprise — The Primitives do a Rolling Stones song, “As Tears Go By,” and despite Tracy’s gentle vocal, this version turns out to be far more danceable than the Stones’ original ballad ever imagined it could be.

We then jump to April of ‘87, and the band have been invited back onto Peel’s show for another live round. Happily, they didn’t do any of the same songs as they’d done in the previous session.

The set starts with “Dreamwalk Baby,” which follows the studio version pretty closely, and just as they sing in the chorus, the lyrics “make no sense at all” to me, at least. Something about crawling in there though.

Next up is “Ocean Blue,” and it seems that the band has invested in some fancier effects equipment since their last appearance, allowing for more echo on the drums and light vocal effects for Tracy. It remains a lovely song about (I think) a budding romance.

“Everything’s Shining Bright” is another song about a new love, and we get a chance to really appreciate the lyrics, where Tracy requests that at the end of the evening “why don’t you turn out the light/so everything is shining bright.” It’s good to know she’s not breaking up with someone for a change.

This is followed by a rarely-heard song for the band, “She Don’t Need You,” which we last heard on the “Thru the Flowers” EP and which never actually made it onto any of the albums covered here. After those two previous romantic songs, we’re back to a song about a breakup, this time told in second-person for a change.

And with that, we move seamlessly on to the gig at Moles nightclub in Bath, and the reason why this particular show was picked becomes obvious — it repeats only one song from the selections heard in the radio sessions it shares this disc with.

Not The Primitives, obviously, but a shot that gives you an idea of the size of the room.

The sound quality and mixing on this gig is excellent, and the band is using a Farisa synth to give the songs an even more 60s vibe. This version of “All the Way Down” is a faster, poppier, and much more danceable version than the one Paul sang on Pure, and it really rocks this time around. The catchiest song about chronic depression yet written, with a wild organ solo beefed up by a fuzz tone guitar effect.

We move on to another unhappy-theme-turned-groovy-pop song, “Sick of It.” A new instrumental break, a new arrangement, and the aforementioned Farisa effect keep this party charging ahead at full steam. Cynicism was never this much fun!

Tracy introduces “Give This World to You” as a “very new song,” and even with the supplemental 60’s party vibe included in this show, you can tell that the band is stretching their wings a bit. Of course, the song turns up later on the album Galore. “Ooh, I enjoyed that!” Tracy says at the end of the song.

The inclusion of the synth at this gig really adds a great new feel to the band’s performance, and I kind of wish it had been used a bit more in their album versions on some numbers. It’s mostly not present or in the background on “Outside,” and Tracy clears up a mystery in her introduction of “Slip Away,” which she brightly says is about masturbation. Again, there’s a awkward rhyme in “I’m gonna drive my soul into the setting sun/I’ve got to get away from all this tedi-um.” It’s kind of adorable.

If nothing else, this box set gives us a variety of arrangments for the song “You Are The Way,” and I am here for all of them. The live version again benefits from the low-key but present organ addition. Tracy has to hit some very high notes at the top of her range a couple of times on this one, and she nonetheless nails it.

Next up is “Earth Thing,” which had a Farisa in it in the first place, so thank heavens it’s here. I’m tempted to say this is my favourite Paul-led song, and with the adrenaline-fueled slightly faster tempo here, along with the furious playing by the band, make this a guaranteed party smash, and that’s before the “jam break” that finishes the song out, featuring the bass first, and mad organ solo second. This is the best version of this song, ever.

“See Thru The Dark” is another upbeat song about kind of a downbeat subject, using metaphors for depression to encourage its subject to “see through” the present and look ahead to brighter days.

Introduced as “quite an old one,” the band quickly launches into “Stop Killing Me,” and Tracy has no trouble spitting out the lyrics to this great song. The organ is dispensed with for this number, to try and stick to the original arrangement as much as possible, and it rocks along merrily as a result. Those “bop-bop-be-dop” backing vocals just make this song extra catchy.

The concert comes to an end with the old reliable, “Way Behind Me.” Throughout this show, Paul has mirrored Tracy’s vocal in spots to recreate a “vocal doubling” effect, and at this point he’s very good at it. Listening to this, I much regret never having caught the band in concert, but I have to wonder if the mix from the soundboard we’re getting here is clearer than what the audience experienced.

At the end of the number, the band says goodnight (so we’re not getting the encores). The gaps between songs leads me to believe we’re only getting edited highlights of a longer show — this was only about 30 minutes of music, not counting the BBC sessions, but if it’s at all representative of what they actually sounded like live, then it’s to my shame that I didn’t get a chance to experience them in person.

THE POST-MORTEM

Bloom! pretty thoroughly documents the band’s original period of activity across their own Lazy Records label before moving on to RCA for their first three albums. Although they did do well in the charts on occasion, it must have been very frustrating for a young band to work that hard and not get more recognition.

Right alongside a handful of other bands, The Primitives should have been staples of the summer tour season. Their songs are airy, poppy, and almost relentlessly upbeat, while their lyrics are allegorical enough for fans to give them their own interpretation.

Perhaps their retro-influenced sound just wasn’t in fashion yet, or their lack of “anthemic” songs like what (for example) U2 was cleaning up with was the problem. The record company appears to have given them a fair amount of support, and they got plenty of good press (especially for a band from the midlands!).

The first album made it to #6 in the charts, and “Crash” did one better in the singles ranking. By the time the second album came out a year later, however, the scene had changed — acid house music and heavier bands like My Bloody Valentine had captured the spotlight.

The Primitives still had a loyal fan following, but Pure — which indulged Court’s more psychedelic stylings — didn’t do as well with its singles, though the album itself did reasonably well. By the time 1990 rolled around and the “Madchester” movement had blossomed, The Primitives were being seen as a “throwback” band for their devotion to 1960s and 70s-style grooves.

Now with the band stretching out and exploring their psychedelic side more fully, Galore should have been perceived as a “triumphant comeback” album, but the label delayed its release by a full year, and by then the Blur-Oasis “war” was in full swing, so The Primitives just got ignored, and then dropped from their label.

The booklet included in Bloom! mentions that shortly after being dropped, the band self-released a cover of “Some Velvet Morning” under the pseudonym Starpower — and lo and behold, it got underground buzz and sold well (though it didn’t chart). RCA ironically offered this “new” band recording session money, not knowing it was the act the company had just dropped.

As a result of this, The Primitives decided not to continue. Thankfully, they reversed that decision in 2009, judging the time to be right for a reformation.

The band periodically put out new EPs and albums until 2017, but have continued to tour and are still an active touring act. They tend to play various festivals in summer, and will be touring with Hugh Cornwall and The House of Love during the winter of 2024.

Next time: Mega-Metamatic!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

The Primitives: Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992 (Disc 4)

Galore + Bonus Tracks
(Cherry Red, 2020)

THE OVERVIEW

Galore is a bit of a mixed bag for early Primitives fans, but that’s not to say it’s not another very good album, because it most certainly is. The group started stretching their super-catchy jangle-pop style on Pure, and while keeping the basic indie-psych-guitar sound here, they move further away from the surf-style periodically, and embrace that darker “psychedelic” side of their nature more heavily.

There also seems to be signs of paying attention to record-company dictates to be more radio friendly by making the songs longer, and having less ambiguous lyrics on the few clearly-identifiable love songs. Partial producer Ian Broudie from The Lightning Seeds co-wrote one of the best songs, “You Are The Way,” but the album suffers from “producer soup” a bit. Broudie, Ed Buller (best known for his later work with Suede and Pulp) and bassist Paul Sampson all get producer credits, along with the band in full.

Although we’ve only mentioned the not-dissimilar band The Darling Buds previously in passing, it’s worth noting that both bands progressed in similar ways across the course of their first three albums. and likewise both broke up (see below) due to a lack of record company success within a year of each other.

(They even reformed within a year of each other! You have to wonder if they ever called each other up and yelled “STOP FOLLOWING US!” down the line.)

THE MUSIC

Galore kicks off with a really strong quartet of songs: radio-friendly love songs sung by Tracy, “You are the Way” and “Lead Me Astray,” followed by more psychedelic “Earth Thing,” sung mainly by Paul (with very New Age/Zen lyrics), returning to what passes for their “typical” style with “Give This World to You.”

The guitar licks are still very satisfyingly tasty, but not so “jangly” as on the first album especially, though you get a taste of that on “Lead Me Astray.” That said, “Earth Thing” is as “heavy” as this band gets, and it’s also got a great fast tempo that makes it great driving music, and nice little bass “solo” three-quarters of the way through.

The band’s knack for writing catchy hooks has never deserted them, and part of the marvel of the group is that they keep coming up with worthwhile variations on their basic 60s/70s-influenced power pop groove.

For the fifth track, the guitars move back behind the bass to give some sonic variety to “Slip Away.” Although their songs have gotten progressively more about attraction and love as a theme, I’m not sure you can really call their stuff “love songs” in a lyrical sense so much as “hazy summer fun + flirting word pictures.”

“Cold Enough to Kill” again mixes things up, trading the driving tempo with a slightly slower, more layered and moody vibe, with a darker yet still airy tone.

And then comes “Hello Jesus.” It starts off with wind sound effects, and a few slow chords before launching the nearest thing yet to a ballad. Is it a religious song? If not, what is it about exactly?

You got me (shrug). Here’s a sample lyric:
You’re just about to fall
You know that you can’t fly
You better make that call
Hello Jesus
… and then it ends as mysteriously as it started. Certainly the oddest thing the band have yet produced.

This quieter, more thoughtful, slower-but-not-balladey groove continues with “Empathise.” Still pretty, still of a certain “evening” mood compared to their sunny mainstays, still exploring alternatives to just doing power pop.

A fan-made music video made using clips from the not-online “Earth Thing” video.

And then just as suddenly, we’re back on the beach, twisting the night away to the uptempo yet still nebulous “See Thru the Dark.” This is followed by a great echoey guitar riff and drum/bass combo that unfolds into “Kiss Mine,” which is another “positive attitude” song, as I suspect a lot of Primitives songs have been, but the real meaning of their lyrics is rarely crystal clear or obvious, with the words just blending into the music.

Boy I sure do hate it when incompetent YouTubers put the wrong cover art on their uploads, don’t you?

Another great riff kicks off the Paul-led semi-ballad “Smile,” which is more unabashedly romantic song that still manages to work in some dark notes into its romantic lyrics.

“The Little Black Egg” is a cover, and the final song of the original album, and I’ve finally given up trying to figure out what the hell this song is about. Here, you give it a try:

Here comes Nancy, here comes Lee
I’ve got what they want to see
I won’t let them stretch their necks
To see my little black egg
With the little white specks

Answers on a postcard, please. I would venture to say the band just found it as weird and folky as I do, and included for “the lolz.”

THE BONUS TRACKS

The version of Galore in this Bloom! box set has all of the bonus tracks found on the deluxe 2CD reissue of Galore from the 2015 UK reissue. That said, they’re not all on this particular disc — the live tracks finally turn up on Disc 5, the “odds and sods” cleanup disc.

The bonus tracks here kick off with “In My Dreams,” which reminds me of the Primitives of earlier albums, i.e. it’s a gorgeous number, and a bit more directly lusty than most of their other songs. Likewise, “Sunpulse” is another signature Primitives track, evoking summer and joy as so many of their songs do — and on this one, the bass gets to shine for a change.

“Flow” appears to mimic the end of “Sunpulse” at first, but very quickly you realise it’s just a portion of “Sunpulse” backwards – another odd choice, but hey we have to cover everything from the band during this period, so here it is.

We then come to an acoustic version of “Stop Killing Me” that you can perfectly picture being sung round an evening campfire on a beach somewhere. The background “bop-bop-de-bop”s are nicely underplayed until the end of the track.

Next up is “You Are The Way (September Mix),” which lays down a solid but unexpected bass-and-drum-heavy music bed that underplays the guitars so that Tracy’s vocals are even more center stage. This, like many of this band’s songs, can’t be performed or re-arranged badly.

We move on to the second of the three versions of “You Are The Way” here, this time the “Re-Ravishing Mix.” It’s a great way to sample how the band re-envisions their songs, with this version going for a longer and hypnotic percussion-led intro and a true “remix,” rearranging the vocal intro and minimizing any guitar presence (!)until a couple of minutes into this six-and-a-half (!!) minute version, and remaining a minimal presence throughout.

It’s an interesting experiment in getting as far away from the band’s “natural” sound as possible, but I doubt many people who aren’t DJs will listen to the track more than once. This is followed by yet another remix version called the “God’s Own Garage Band Mix — Alternate Version,” which is only minimally distinguishable from the “Re-Ravishing Mix.” This one is only a 4’18” mix though.

My favourite version of “You Are The Way,” though, remains the album cut – with the “September Mix” a very close second. The reason we have all these versions is clear: the song was the single, but either the band or the record companies let some others have their way with remixing it for 12-inch b-sides.

Happily, the guitars return with a vengeance (and Paul on vocal) with “Under My Spell.” This one is notable for only have a very minimal trace of Tracy on it.

The bonus tracks wrap up with “Haunted,” which could easily have been an album track. It’s a more polished number than “Under My Spell,” which barely rises above demo status.

THE POST-MORTEM

Galore continues the band’s exploration beyond just jangly guitar pop, since they perfected that form right out of the starting gate with their first major-label album. They continue to struggle with the notion of writing a bad song (a “problem” very few bands can claim to have), but they get close to the idea on this album, without ever actually achieving that “goal.”

The band, down to a threesome for this album, again failed to chart with Galore and decided to call it a day, even as they remained college-radio darlings. Fortunately for us all, this wasn’t where the story ended, but its the final album of the period covered by Bloom!.

Next time: BBC Sessions, and a live gig!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

The Primitives — Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992 (Disc 3)

Pure + Bonus Tracks
Cherry Red, 2020

THE OVERVIEW

Ah, the “difficult” sophomore album … following a batch of compelling songs as demos, refinements, and finally as their debut album, what do you do for a follow-up? Well, try to break the mold a bit while still relying on what you know you do damn well, apparently.

Released on New Year’s Day, 1989 — one year to the day after their debut album — Pure explores some different approaches, and expands their “jangly airy guitar pop” worldview a bit, but the best songs are the ones that would have sat comfortably on Lovely (and in one case, actually did).

It’s still guitar/bass/drum driven, with Tracy is trying on some new styles within her range, Paul is slowly expanding his songwriting scope, but it is recognizably the same band with — at its core — the same musical approach. Where they are changing things up is mostly to do with mood — embracing some of the darkness in style that one often finds in their lyrics.

Note, for example, the somber way Paul sings “Shine.” Or, for that matter, the world-weary tone Tracy adopts (appropriately) for “Sick Of It.” Despite these more dour choices, there’s still plenty of sunshine here for when the clouds clear away, and it’s all very good indeed.

Despite this record being so much fun to listen to, it didn’t do as well as the band’s debut. It did make into the Top 40 in the UK at number 38, but stalled at number 113 on the US charts (a year after release), and even that was solely due to college radio airplay — why this great record didn’t get mainstream radio spins at least during the summer months, fer cryin’ out loud, must have frustrated the band even more than it does me.

THE MUSIC

The album kicks off with the sing-songy “Outside,” using a simplistic riff and what seems to me like xylophone (!) and cymbal rather than their usual percussion. The floating guitar effects and plaintive singing make for a very low-key song compared to the material on Lovely, but then the ominous bass notes come in and you are served notice that this song isn’t going to suddenly “rock out.” For this band, it’s a bit depressing actually.

Luckily, the next track is what I’d call their most Cocteau Twins-like number, “Summer Rain” — a guitar bed with a lovely lead line, fresh lyrics, a catchy melody and another bit of second guitar while the percussion comes in. Tracy’s doubled vocal returns very effectively, and while the pace remains firmly at mid-tempo, the song builds to a chorus that really captures the spirit of the song.

Frankly, I think they may have outdone the Cocteau Twins on this one! It’s a perfect melding of the two bands.

“Sick of It” is about as close as this band is going to get to punk. The lyrics express their negative judgement on what I have to presume is Los Angeles (joke), while the band sets about rocking pretty hard. If the band grew on you from the first album, this one will be a hit with you.

Mimed on TOTP

Then, things take another turn with “Shine” — starting with Paul handling lead vocals, and the use of acoustic guitars. Despite the change of tone, it’s still another example of the band’s primary approach — catchy pop-rock married to ominous (or at least obscure) lyrics.

“Dizzy Heights” starts off with furious riffing and utilizing audio effects and both singers to full effect. This is a group that has a style, but really really wants to switch it up a bit to avoid being called “good, but all the songs are kinda samey.”

Paul returns to his “psychedelic” vocal style to jazz up “All the Way Down” in another catchy exercise that finally brings the bass back in fully. We then get back to Primitives basics and feel-good sunshine pop with “Secrets” — joyous workout with the band at its best. It reminds me of something the Jesus & Mary Chain might have done, especially with the faster tempo of the bonus “Beat Version,” which we’ll come back to shortly.

This is followed by another “typical” Primitives menace-shaded funfest, “Keep Me in Mind.” The melody wanders off from time to time, and the lyrics are again (like most of their songs) about not much in terms of concrete messages or story, but anything that keeps all four members busy for the duration of the number is what I’m here for.

“Lonely Streets” was a popular track on college radio, with its “ooh-ooh” cascades and driving tempo. It threatens to be another sing-songy number like “Outside,” but the tempo changes save it from being a twin to that first song.

Then we try something different again with “Can’t Bring Me Down.” Vocals right up front, with the band firmly behind her. Tracy’s “sassy” style here reminds me of the one-hit-wonder UK band Shampoo and their one hit “We’re in Trouble,” a 1994 UK single.

Following this, a surprise. A re-used song! This version of “Way Behind Me” is straight from the the later editions of the previous album, but to be fair it’s fabulous, and deserved a second spin. The mix here gives everything equal focus as it did on the last album, which hasn’t been the case for most of this album, but it works for this number, at least.

The album proper finishes up with “Never Tell,” another upbeat tune but this time with … gasp! … a carefree upbeat (and metaphorical) lyric with only the lightest touch of vagueness! What the …?

To sum up the album as simply as possible, the group was paying attention to what was going on around them musically (like the “shoegaze” style), and adapted some of their songwriting to bring expanded versatility and influences into their core skill set. The result is varied and excellent.

THE BONUS TRACKS

The original CD version of the album had four bonus tracks — “Noose,” a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” a “Beat Version” of “All the Way Down,” and a new song from Paul (at the time going by PJ Court), “I Almost Touched You.” The cassette (!) version of the album only included “Noose” as a bonus song.

Bloom!, on the other hand, includes as many bonus tracks as their were songs on the original album — a whopping 11 extra tracks, kicking off with the far-superior “Beat Version” of “All the Way Down,” which brings the tempo and energy up to the normal Primitives’ enthusiasm levels. This version sounds like something The House of Love (or indeed, many other bands of the very late 80s) would have loved to have covered, rather than the more morose album version.

The organ and handclaps added to the song here really bring it to life and transport it back to the psychedelic 60s, the band’s touchstone influence.

This is followed by an acoustic new version of “Way Behind Me,” similar to the album version but without the (missed) “bop-bop-be-doo” intro. I’ve said it before, but this has “hit” written all over it, and it was in fact on a single — paired (oddly) with the morose version of “All The Way Down,” and the a-side was the album version of the A-Side and the superior “Beat Version” of “All the Way Down.”

“Noose” was such a totally different number from the band that it makes an odd choice for the “lead” bonus track, but that’s not to say it’s bad. Alternating vocals from Paul and Tracy (coming together at points throughout) sound like they wrote and recorded the track immediately after viewing some old-school “spaghetti westerns” — particularly for the opening chords and beginning percussion.

As the song gets going properly, the mood then evolves into their idea for a soundtrack to the 60s Italian “high stakes caper” movie Danger Diabolik!, complete with synth strings! If you’re not familiar with John Phillip Law’s 1968 Italian action movie masterpiece, watch that first before you put this on — your enjoyment of it will be doubled!

The mash-up of vintage video works oddly well with this song.

Switching up the mood, the next track is that remake of the Velvets single I mentioned. The Primitives’ respectful version of “I’ll Be Your Mirror” is more upbeat and frankly better in most respects, and sounds very credibly like a cover single made around the same time by a girl group of the the original’s era. It’s hard to beat the groundbreaking original version and Nico’s striking vocal, but The Primitives manage to hold their own with an excellent choice of a song to cover.

Following that cover, we’re treated to another — the Rolling Stones’ classic ballad “As Tears Go By” — but rather than pay homage to the original, the band effortlessly turns the song into … a number you might have sworn The Primitives wrote themselves! This should have been put into the original album’s track list — the mood, style and arrangement give a whole new dimension to the song as one of the band’s own “upbeat music with downbeat lyrics” signature style.

The next track, “I Almost Touched You,” really tries hard to be a different sort of number, getting back to the bass dominance we haven’t heard for a while, married to a lyric about an (unsuccessful) creeper and his quest.

The next three tracks offer alternative versions of the album track “Secrets.” The first is the original demo, which grooves just as well, but lacks the nicer intro of the album version. Godlike producer and remixer Zeus B Held finally got his hands on a Primitives track, and his 12” inch keeps the original intents while bringing Paul’s backing vocals up in places, but otherwise keeps the original’s speedy, 60s style intact. He drops some instruments out periodically for showcasing effects, and breaks out some lyrics for repeating/highlighting, squeezing an extra 42 seconds in compared to the original.

The 12” Dub mix of the song gives the rest of us a chance to karaoke this fun number at our next groovy party. For best results, you’d better have your own harmonizing boy-and-girl singers to try and hold your own against the (completely absent) original vocals.

The bonus tracks draw to a close with another fabulous cover, this time the 1957 Lieber-Stroller number “You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care),” originally made famous by that Elvis Presley fellah. That bassline must have proven irresistable to new bassist (and producer) Paul Sampson, and he certainly brings the low notes to life. Tracy sometimes has to fight to be heard over the bass-and-guitar attack, but the song works well with her lower register and points back to the influences the band wears on their sleeve.

Next time: tracks Galore!

Posted on by chasinvictoria

The Primitives – Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992 (Disc 2)

Lovely, plus bonus tracks (Cherry Red, 2020)

A terrific album with absolutely awful art (front and back).

THE OVERVIEW

Finally, after doing all the right things a band that knows they are good should do, a Real Record Company put them back in the studio to make a proper album and proper singles on a proper label, and the result was its own one-word review: Lovely.

If you are reading this and somehow haven’t heard the band, it’s airy, jangly guitar pop with a 60’s influence, a girl singer, and — if you lean in and listen close — a hint of darkness in the lyrics you’re not really supposed to pay attention to. It’s the sort of stuff radio stations of the commercial variety should’ve played regularly, especially in the summertime, but never did really. Thank heavens for college radio.

You won’t find a full review of Lovely here — if you’re reading this, you very likely already have a copy (at least, you should have a copy). That said, we’ll compare the (many) songs on the official debut album to the various versions that appeared prior to this, and examine the included bonus tracks.

The band’s original, heavier “wall of (guitar)” sound has officially given way to a catchy “indie pop/jangle pop,” vibe, but that C86 influence still creeps in occasionally. The album was oddly overseen with an “executive producer” (their agent, Wayne Morris), but in fact it was produced largely by second guitarist Paul Sampson and engineer/producer Mark Wallis, working together.

Though not a member of The Primitives, Wallis has had an incredible career producing acts across a wide spectrum of 80s and later rock. Oddly, Lovely was his only credit with this band.

THE ALBUM

As you might expect, the gang put their best foot forward and kicked off Lovely with the single “Crash.” It’s fun to compare the original demo to this beautifully perfected single; the first version started off with a very Joy Division emphasis on bass, setting a dark mood for the song, which is (to be fair) about the breakup of a relationship.

By contrast, the lead off track on the album starts with wonderfully 60s-flavoured jangly guitar, with a harsh bass/second guitar note cutting the intro short with a “brake” effect, and getting into the song itself. A growly guitar bed of melody and counter-melody plus a rock-solid bassline marry themselves to an unstoppable beat, and echoed Tracy’s vocals (softly backed with Paul’s presence) hums along in what the a music press article called “the perfect single by the perfect band.”

“Spacehead” gets a big-beat sound on drums this time, and we can finally make out Tracy’s vocals clearly. Both versions have the lovely “sha-la-la-la-la” mantra to keep this psych-influenced number grounded in beach blanket bliss.

“Carry Me Home” is a re-recorded version that still features lead vocals by songwriter Paul Court. Tracy comes in on some backing vocals, but only occasionally (as with the ‘87 Album Sessions version). The album version ups the “pop” quotient and tempo a bit to make it a better number.

This brings us to “Shadow,” which gets a radical revamp on Lovely compared to the “Guitar Version” we got on Disc 1. This time, the band goes all-out on the Indian influence. After a short menacing guitar buzz (probably meant to emulate the hiss of a cobra), the tablas kick right in and instantly give the song a more hypnotic quality, complemented nicely by Tracey’s mysterious vocal. The lead guitar from the original version can be heard way in the background, but this version is just way better and more atmospheric in every way.

Next up is “Thru the Flowers,” which we have heard two previous versions of back on Disc 1. The first version was on a self-produced EP that almost but not quite drowned Tracy behind a waterfall of guitar, the second was the “new version” with considerably more restrained and melodic guitar and better vocals, recorded for a Lazy Records single, and now we get the official album version.

The new version is like a cross between the previous two — bringing back the “crunchy” guitar intro and sporadic reappearance that will remind you of the demo version, but apart from a bit more echo its quite similar to the “New Version,” with an extra guitar instrumental break and still better vocal production. All three versions flirt (to some degree) with psychedelia touches, but never quite get there.

“Dreamwalk Baby” gets a considerably snazzed-up version compared to the “1987 Version” from Disc 1. Both version rollick along, but the album cuts puts the guitars behind Tracy as it should do, but is otherwise quite similar. I do miss the synth touch on the original, however.

Another song redone from the 1987 sessions is “I’ll Stick With You.” The 1987 version still had the crunchier guitar, but thankfully as co-equal with the vocals. What’s interesting to me (at least) in comparing these versions is how little the songs themselves changed; just the arrangement and production is really different for the most part. The band knew they had solid material, even as often as the word “hey” is repeated in a lot of them.

Whoever put the packaging and liner notes together for Bloom! somehow overlooked the next track, the new song “Way Behind Me,” but nonetheless it is in fact there, as it was on the album. It’s a great song, and there’s not much more to say about that. By this point, The Primitives have a signature sound, and most songs are clever variations on that sound.

“Nothing Left” gets a hell of a great intro compared to the original demo, which just jumped right into the lyric. The album version tracks closely with the “1987 Version” (which was informed by the “Sounds Version”), but just lacks the propelling energy of the album version with its ticked-up tempo. Again, it’s fun to hear how the song matures.

Tracey sings the lead of the instrumental break, which was a genius idea, and puts more passion into the chorus. This is the best version of them all, and the slightly-rearranged lyric is the icing on this cake. Like “Crash,” it’s a perfect song, done perfectly.

Likewise, “Out of Reach” gets its energy from a urgent tempo. Paul’s accompaniment of Tracy at key points only adds to the enjoyment. Like most of their best songs, it marries a nihilist lyric with deliriously happy jangle pop. There is more Paul on backing vocals in the “1987 version,” and a different arrangement, but it’s still the same great song.

“Ocean Blue” is a great change of pace at this point in the album, a slower and dreamier number, and features touches of drone and gentle percussion here and there. It follows very closely the “London Astoria single” version, but was re-recorded for the album.

After the new song “Run Baby Run,” we get to the album version of “Don’t Want Anything to Change,” in a more restrained version that offers some piano (!) for the first and only time on the album. I actually prefer the “1987 Version” to the album version, for once.

Lovely closes with the fuzzy surf rocker, “Buzz Buzz Buzz,”which gets a quick snare intro before the buzzsaw guitars take over. As with the two previous versions, Paul Court takes lead with Tracy doubling him. Again, it’s a very close remake of the original album sessions.

THE BONUS TRACKS

We start with some of the b-sides from the “Crash” single. The A-side was of course the album version of “Crash,” but came with three b-sides — the album track of “I’ll Stick With You,” the “Crash” demo version, and an all-new song, “Things Get in Your Way,” which starts off kind of oddly but really grows on you. Only “Stick” and “Things” are here on Disc 2 as bonus tracks, since we’ve already gotten the demo verion of “Crash” on Disc 1.

A (slightly) alternative version, from a John Peel session.

The remainder of the tracks in the bonus section for Lovely consist of an amalgamation of the a- and b-sides of the “Out of Reach” single. The UK 12-inch versions contained the remixed (and sped-up slightly) 1’54” version of “Out of Reach,” the album version of the same song (20 seconds longer), and two live tracks: “Really Stupid” and “Crash.”

The 7” version of the UK single had the shorter version of “Out of Reach” and live versions of “Dreamwalk Baby,” “Really Stupid,” and “Crash.”

Of these, the big treat of the b-sides is to be found here and on the CD-single version: a b-side live cover of Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” which originally appeared nowhere else, but eventually turned up on the previous Primitives anthology CD sets. It sounds a lot like the earlier “wall of guitar” incarnation of the band, and of course if you’ve not heard a woman singing it, that’s kind of novel as well. It’s the final track on Disc 2, and a wrap on Lovely.

Next time: Pure delight!