The Petticoats "Normal"

The sarcastic two fingers up to settling for a life of domesticity of The Petticoats' "Normal" was one of many highlights of Stewart and Jen from Boyracer's killer "Kitchen Sounds #1" podcast in July 2008.  With it being from 1980, however, I figured that an original 7" would be tricky to track down so didn't try to and over time kinda forgot about it.  Then, a few weeks ago whilst rummaging about on Group Tightener's site*, I spied that Fungi Girls had also included it on their rather fine mix.  After a bit of internet diddling (it's a compulsion!) I'd turned up a relatively pricey N(ear)M(int) ebay copy and Stef Petticoat's discography page on which, crucially, the entry for "Normal" wasn't followed by the words 'no longer available'.  One email, a week and some exemplary packaging (much appreciated, Stef!) later and I had a perfect copy spinning on my turntable.  Hurrah!  It's a real buzz to hear those clanking guitars and Stef's refusenik vocals turned way up loud and, since I don't currently have any more Petticoats records to play, I'll be spending the next wee while in the company of The Nixe, Kleenex and Lung Leg.  Magic!

{get in touch with Stef here to bag yr very own copy to cherish!}

* - I was keen on getting their Twerps 7" but 18.50 USD for one 7" kinda prices me outta the game unless it's the best thing since "Baby Honey"...

Girls Names "Dead To Me"

My chemistry teacher once told me that "Procrastination is the thief of time".  20 years on and it would appear that diddling on the internet has replaced procrastination as the thief of my time.  That pesky internet has stolen so much time of late that a shameful number of records and cds have been suffocating in their shrinkwrap instead of breathing on my hi-fi.  One such cd was Girls Names' debut.  After their rollicking set at Commercial Alternative last year, I was hotly anticipating the release of "Dead To Me" (Slumberland Records / Tough Love) so it's a bit odd that it suffered such a fate.  Anyway, it finally got a few spins last night while I was reading The Observer from 2 Sundays ago which I didn't read at the time because I was diddl...er...you get the picture.  Girls Names' earlier eps and their ace split with Brilliant Colors suggested that a full length would sound like this and it's a relief that it actually does.  Which is to say that I'm glad that, unlike some of their peers, they didn't feel the need to get too polished too soon.  Most tracks sound like they were made by a gang of kids sent wild on hearing Crystal Stilts, Joy Division and the grumbling, rumbling music of the Estrus Records / Dick Dale axis of surf (as opposed to the harmony spangled surf of The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean).  So, a record to nourish those with a love of the sparkier side of guitar pop.  It's at its sparkiest on songs like "I Lose"  (previously aired on the aforementioned Brilliant Colors split) on which the guitar rattles like the chrome fittings on an aged school bus battering along a pothole riddled road circa 1975.  At last Friday's Ducktails show D suggested that it sounded as if I loved just about every record out at the moment.  Of course that's not true.  What is true is that recently there have been a number of records such as the aforementioned Crystal Stilts' latest, Amor de Dias's debut, the new Comet Gain record,  etc. that haven't disappointed so I feel compelled to evangelise (ok, chunter on at length to anyone who'll listen!) about them.

Girls Names - "I Lose" by Tough Love
  

The Pastels on Domino Radio!

The Pastels present "Thomson Colour" this Sunday (12th June) at 9:30am (British Summertime) for Domino Radio.  Sounds like a lovely thing to wake up to on Sunday morning, doesn't it?  Poor Andrew Marr'll be gutted that his viewing figures'll be taking a dive this week, though.

Update Monday 13/06: The show was, as expected, wonderful and is now archived here.

Return to Wimp Scuzz: "I Cried" by The Chains

Tender vocals, an admirably non-macho willingness to admit to crying and a super-expressive guitar line make The Chains' "I Cried" a particularly touching example of 1960s wimp scuzz.  Remarkably, it wasn't released at the time but, for those of us not fortunate enough to have been kicking around the high schools and dancehalls of McKeesport, PA in 1964, Get Hip Records pressed it up at some point (April 2011-ish?) on 7" vinyl. When The Man sees fit to pay me next, I'll buy me a copy, for sure!

  

Q: Are You Falling In Love?

A: Yes.

For some reason I didn't really feel either of Gold-Bears' singles so I wasn't expecting a great deal from their debut lp but I gave it a whirl anyway since it was on Slumberland Records.  It came as a sweet surprise, therefore, to discover much to admire on it, especially the title track, "Are You Falling In Love".   The idea of overlaying a Belle and Sebastian-reverent tune complete with strings and sleigh bells with the sound of a swarm of bees disappearing up a vacuum cleaner turned out to be a fine one.  Who would've guessed that?  Elsewhere there are a bunch of guitar sounds to cherish (the start of "Tally" was surely pinched from The Field Mice's autumn store of intros!), some immaculately recorded tambourines (anyone who doesn't have a weakness for them, please see a doctor now!) and plenty of impassioned vocals.  It all zips by at quite a pace but still finds the time and space for subtlety and detail.  So far it's stood up well to repeated plays and I suspect that with the addition of some summer sun its appeal will only grow.

Handily, I've just noticed that you can embed boomkat's player on yr blog so, er, don't take my word for it! (Like you'd be so dumb, anyway!)

Read full review of Are You Falling In Love? - Gold-Bears on Boomkat.com ©

Jad Fair @ Stereo, Glasgow (31/05/2011)

So, Jad Fair played and, as expected, it was a bit of a riot!  With Jad's shows, there's always a story to tell afterwards and this time that story concerns his...er...bendy guitar (!).  I'm pretty sure I've never witnessed a show where the guitarist physically bent the neck of his guitar in the pursuit of sound and sensation and I've certainly never seen a show which finished with the guitarist playing an instrument whose neck has become separated from its body before!  Crazily, the neck bending antics yielded some great sounds.  If someone had blindfolded me and told me that I was in fact listening to a live Jad Fair album that had been left next to a piping hot radiator all winter, I would've believed them.  His set was studded with frequently aired gems from yesteryear like "Red Dress", "This Could Be The Night" "Roman Candles" and "Bashful Jad" but all were made lemon fresh by Jad's loopy-eyed energy and the odd lyrical tweak.  His Jad-libs (sorry - couldn't resist that!) were a hoot e.g. "I may not a Beatle, but I have a Beatle's needs" and from the length of some of his mid-line pauses, he could, in a Crocodile Dundee style, say to Harold Pinter, "Ha ha ha, that's not a pause.  THAT's a pause!".  Gilles Rieder on drums was a rock, all maximum feel and, crucially, minimum chaos - a great complement to Jad.  A true highlight was when the pair left the stage and Jad, breathing hard and sweating from his exertions, sang a cappella while Rieder drummed on the stage-front and then the floor.  Tremendous!

Bashful Jad in Glasgow!

Not long now till Jad Fair lands in Glasgow!  I can't think of a better way to make the most of the spring bank holiday - Monday, 30th May - than nipping along to Stereo at ~7pm for some hot Jad action.  Like a lot of the good stuff in my life, I have The Pastels to thank for bringing Jad to my attention via their two heart melting collaborations with him.  I have so many great memories of Jad's previous Glasgow shows.  For example, being at The Art School at silly o'clock in the morning watching a punk and a skinhead merrily (and I do mean 'merrily', they were having a fine old time!) kicking each other while Jad's group, Half Japanese, ground (musically, not in the Beyonce booty-shaking sense!) away on stage or seeing the cutest, most sweetly gormless baby popping up periodically at the window of Monorail when he played an in-store there.  And the less said about the time I 'lost' my spectacles during the disco after his show with Teenage Fanclub aboard the Renfew Ferry, the better!  If the optimistic, packet-of-Dolly Mixtures colours of Jad's most recent artworks (see the pic, above) are any guide, 2011 finds him on fine form.  I do hope so.  Roll on Monday!