It’s old fashioned pop that manages to capture an audience without any ego or bluster. The singer has something of Marc Almond’s theatrical delivery too.
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Saint Max and the Fanatics
Imagine the ghosts of Flanagan and Allen brought to life – albeit their gentle vibe as pictured by a bunch of speed freaks.
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Call the Doctor – Hands Will Shake
The difficulty is with this sort of music – good songs or not – is that there have been so many bands ploughing this particular sonic furrow this past ten years. And it’s often difficult to pick out the ace in the pack. There again the LP is stuffed with good quality teen pop and I shouldn’t be looking to set agendas in reviews.
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Bailterspace – Strobosphere
Like trying to get some surly teen to tidy their pit, you won’t get much change out of the enterprise if you don’t have a fair old vat of patience and understanding.
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Introducing Unmade Bed
Just like Divine or Lisa Stansfield, this music is not looking to beg or win any prizes, and that’s important in this Salem-like age of timidity.
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Blind Television – Demo(n)
I suppose that the absence of any considerations apart from trying to make the best noise they can is what makes this music tick.
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Fergus and Geronimo – Funky Was the State of Affairs
Fergus and Geronimo do seem to have a thing about the Romans; no less than three tracks are named after them. The same with aliens… both are depicted on the cartoon on the inner sleeve. I quite like this sketchy, Clinton-style daftness.
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Deep Time – Deep Time
I think we can agree then that this is a strange but beguiling record; content to live by its own insular rules, seemingly intent at carving out some peculiar nest in pop’s Yggdrasil.
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Seams – Tourist/Sleeper
Other bits of the first EP are very fragile or diffuse, and get lost a wee bit in an out of focus blur of noises and samples. It’s a nice listen, mind, so we’re not being too critical.
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Get Well Soon – The Scarlet Beast O’ Seven Heads
…this LP draws heavily from the templates laid down by people like Scott Walker, or Argento, or Divine Comedy, where easy listening, film soundtracks and a light sort of disco froth form a rich, often queasy mix, like Baileys and brandy.
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