And that’s why Blue Skies Up is bound to have a real, genuine effect; scenesters and snobbishness are out of the window. There’s no reason why this wouldn’t work as side one of Now 79.
The best compilations always stand for far more than their musical components. C86 may conjure up images of long fringes, twee badges and pure, unadulterated jangle-pop but the LP itself was actually a diverse group of good (and not so good), mildly interesting bands thrown together on a whim by NME staffers of the time. What mattered wasn’t the sound; it was the style and the statement. With Blue Skies Up mini-label Dog Box Records have hit onto something – that there’s a group of disillusioned people out there who are fed up with the current crop of ‘alternative’ acts. Who would quite like their favourite records to be on drive-time radio rather than late night ‘indie’ slots. Who feel that no matter which way they turn it’s only to be shoved into some new demographic or target audience. What’s more they’ve got a name for it: welcome to the ‘New Pop Revolution’.
Sure, the whole thing is bound to collapse. Maybe it will be tossed to the wayside by those labels that are happy with the current situation thankyouverymuch. Possibly, through giving it a name, it’s already being consumed by the marketing machines and will soon be spat out as some pre-processed new style. But for the moment there’s a little bit of hope that ‘pop’ (no suffixes, no frills and no irony) could return as a critical and cultural force to be reckoned with; hell, on sleeve-notes alone this is already compilation of the year! Music distilled to its basics without sacrificing depth, ingenuity and style? Yes, please.
But what’s more, they pull it off. The ideology is perfect and they also succeed where others are let down; the trifling matter of fantastic, addictive songs that implore you to smile and release all inhibitions. And that’s why Blue Skies Up is bound to have a real, genuine effect; scenesters and snobbishness are out of the window. There’s no reason why this wouldn’t work as side one of Now 79. The consensus is on fun and the emphasis is on accessible. This stuff should belong to the masses.
A genuine album, designed to be played from end to end rather than ripped, burnt and crushed into shuffle mode is a rare treat. This plays just like that. Strikingly diverse but extremely coherent songs are the key ingredients but the individual tracks stand up on their own. First up are Swimmer One who set the scene for a long drawn out electronica-focussed release with bleeps and samples a plenty. It’s all lovely but we feel it’s all been done many, many times before. Luxembourg, meanwhile take one look at this and reply with Not My Number, a searing mix of synths, sex and phone contracts that makes the alternatives pale in comparison. Luxembourg haven’t had an easy ride – five years in they’re only just readying a debut album but there’s a real hope that the circumstances may finally be moving in their favour. This is soap-opera realism set to some incredibly intelligent pop. Ignore the Arctic Monkeys’ "we’re well ‘ard" tales of ‘gritty’ social tales – this is a bitter, accurate of Britain today; the drudgery of office life and the dreaming of romantic rendezvous.
After Planetakis’ nearly succeed in their efforts to be the best Helen Love tribute band Germany has ever had, Remember Me by the Boyfriends seems rather bland in comparison. Equally certain groups seem to forget that it’s over two decades since indiepop hit its heights and, while not necessarily a bad thing, The Sweethearts’ inclusion sounds frighteningly identical to one of our Sarah Records 7"s. Meanwhile The Lodger are favourites to make it big out this crop. Not So Fast doesn’t reach the highs that their more upbeat releases have and it certainly hints that there’s a possibility of a rather dull, power-ballad style developing. Right now, however, it’s pop-thrills all the way and sounds great.
The remainder of the album delves heavily into electronica and everything becomes a little blurred – The Laurel Collective and The Bleeding Hearts shine, Nakeru and The Bridge Gang less so. Knocking a compilation of such high standard put together by a tiny indie label with only myspace and great A&R ability for company is impressive. Certainly only a couple of duff tracks out of 16, all by fairly unknown and often unsigned artists is an impressive tally.
Whether this will appear classic in the future remains to be seen. However, to ruminate on the future would be against the point of this CD; the rhetoric is rooted in the present tense and the emphasis is on starting something rather than commemorating it. Right now it’s great. Right now you should convince everyone you know to abandon online playlists and embrace a bona-fide physical release that gives you a little bit to believe in. Right now you should listen to some proper pop music and go around with a smile on your face.