The Higher Statereally do have a surfeit of great melodies. It's actually mean of them not to share just a few of them with the other similarly mid-60s fixated groups. Their new 7" for 13 O'Clock Records was in my postman's sack the other day and it's another prime chunk of Byrds inspired folk rock. For added period artefact authenticity it has one of those push-out centres for jukebox owners. Of course, there's no way I'll be pushing it out - that would be like slashing a Bridget Riley painting. It's exciting to note from this picture that their lineup has been enhanced with the young king of all things '66, Paul Messis (front right), and...er...Austin Powers. Fans of The See See should be particularly enamoured with what they hear, below.
When I hear these loving recreations of the best of 60s music, part of me wants to have another go at donning the old Breton fisherman's cap, parka and winkle-pickers. Then I remember that the last time I tried that my colleagues took great delight at singing "In The Navy" and "Y.M.C.A." whenever I walked by. Philistines!
Nearly a year ago The Higher State's Edinburgh show provided ample evidence that they could craft a heart-tugging melody and that they knew their way around a catchy downer jangle. Recently on Facebook they've been sharing some Dutch beat gems that give an insight into the music that makes their Chelsea boots tap in unison and unsurprisingly there's been some wonderfully sombre jangle to enjoy. To Not Unloved's ears, the best track they've posted thus far is by The Sandy Coast:
Last weekend had long been reserved in Not Unloved's calendar for The Big Stramash so it was a real disappointment when it was postponed, no doubt due to a waterlogged pitch (this being Scotland after all!). The Wee Stramash that took its place on Friday night, however, still featured at least one band worth zipping along the M8 for: The Higher State. Any group featuring former members of The Embrooks and The Mystreatedhad to be worth a peek and so it proved. With the young Ray Davies on bass (or was it Richard or Thomas Frost?) and a Carnaby St. croupier on drums (former Embrook, Mole) they chimed and jangled their way through a dozen or so 60s rooted pop winners that got the winklepickers tapping and cheered the soul. Their friend and label-mate Paul Messis stood to their left manning the merchandising boutique, swaying and looking for all the world like a young Chris Montez at his most dapper. I left with 3 of his singles as well as The Higher State's most recent cd. It's particularly pleasing to finally have this perky slice of period perfect jangle on 7" vinyl after having enjoyed the YouTube clip for so long:
Inexplicably, the two local groups who supported, Uncle Dad and the even worse named Dick Dangerous and The Love Bastards, seemed to find more favour with the local audience. Both were less easy on the eye than The Higher State - a bearded saxophonist in black three quarter length cargo pants is never acceptable - and considerably rawer. Still, the singer from Dick D did sport eyebrows like little orbit quiffs and Uncle Dad did serviceable rawhide renditions of songs by The Cramps and The Honeycombs and it's always a treat to see people actually dancing while groups are playing. The only real down-side of the evening was spotting on a discarded setlist that The Higher State had been planning to end on Southwest F.O.B.'s timeless "The Smell of Incense"but couldn't due to the organisers calling time. I'm sure that would've been quite something.
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