Sunday 8 January 2023

These Things

Every year I listen to "Wish" by Bristol's blistering bliss merchants Flying Saucer Attack at worrying volume to see if it remains the most exhilarating piece of music ever to rub sandpaper on Not Unloved's gig tenderized eardrums. I'm happy to report that it does, indeed, retain its crown. There are so many great FSA tracks spread across the group's albums and singles but one of the prettiest doesn't appear on one of their main releases but on a compilation 45 included with the German Hayfever magazine in 1996:


Dave Pearce's voice has seldom been gentler and the acoustic guitar is so lightly played that it almost out-gentles some of the most adorably twee music of the 90s. Of course, being a Flying Saucer Attack song it eventually gets overwhelmed by the group's trademark hovering feedback and distortion. Copies of the 7" are very cheap on discogs so my advice is: get while the getting's good!