Where are we up to?
Ah, a couple of the more unfeted bands today: Blaggers ITA and The Blue Aeroplanes. They're quite different, which is why alphabetical order throws up these delicious juxtapositions.
Blaggers ITA were, frankly, a bunch of chancers: sort-of rap rock with a rebel pose: the Abandon Ship EP I have is quite enough, and the theme is joyriding. It's childish and utterly thrilling.
Though I've just looked them up on t'Net, and it seems that they're a dedicated leftwing antifascist Oi band, none of which is apparent from this CD.
And now for something completely different…
The Blue Aeroplanes are a Bristol band who were for a moment hailed as the British REM - sensitive, thoughtful, interesting alternative rock. I was introduced to them by my Bristolian friend Aimee. They're one of those bands I like a lot but don't listen to very often - you have to be in the right mood for them. They've been going since the early 80s - adored by critics, ignored by the great British public.
The two albums I have on CD (several more on vinyl) are Beatsongs from 1991 and Fruit, a 1996 live album. Beatsongs is classic pre-Britpop art rock, all interesting lyrics and gentle tunes, though a few tracks are more muscular, like 'Huh!', and 'Yr Own World' is proper jangly guitar pop. In fact, playing it back now, I'm stunned by how many catchy pop tracks populate this album. Fruit is more mixed - live albums always are, and I wouldn't start from here. The sound's rubbish. 'Surf Classic' and 'Pony Boy' are pretty good though.
No comments:
Post a Comment