As the glorious summer of 1995 turned into autumn, i found myself returning home to Hucknall, the trainee management job in Watford not having quite worked out as planned. Back at my parents house, in a job that i wasn't particularly happy with, and having lost touch with my friends here, i buried myself in music. It was a constant companion: on my walkman whilst travelling to work, on in the warehouse AT work, on at home, often whilst engrossed in just about every music weekly and monthly i could get my hands on. During the "Battle Of Britpop" that August, i hadn't taken sides as many people had - although i preferred Blurs' "Country House" over Oasis' "Roll With It", it was only marginally so, as i'd thought both songs to be not exactly their best - so i followed both bands. I don't listen to Oasis now, although i will concede that their first album is quite good, but back then i liked them as much as any other Britpop band. When Blurs new album, "The Great Escape", came out that September, i found it a bit of a disappointment to be honest. Damon Albarns' lyrics left a lot to be desired on quite a few of the songs, his observational, character-based style having tipped over into self-parody, especially on tracks like "Stereotypes" and "Charmless Man", the latter of which i can't listen to at all without wanting to put my size 12's through the speaker! The music wasn't too bad in itself, being quite angular and spiky (this album, as with quite a few of their songs, owes a lot to XTC , "Stereotypes" in particular sounding a lot like that bands' "Respectable Street"). Oasis' "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" whilst being absolutely derivative of their influences, wasn't trying to be anything other than what it was: a straight-up Indie Rock album. In spite of - and because of - Noel Gallaghers' simplistic and nonsensical lyrics and tunes ripped off from 60's and 70's rock, they became "the band of the people", terrace songs for the masses. Which, even though i can't listen to them now, is no bad thing if you want to be hugely successfthe like ul. And they were, which allowed them to escape the bloated shadow of Britpop and become one of the biggest bands on the planet. That being said, i thought then and now that "Wonderwall" was a godawful tuneless dirge. And they did inspire some quite boring and talentless bands who all got record deals with labels desperate to sign up the next Oasis. Those bands aside, there seemed to be a constant stream of great singles and albums that year. Former Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder had kicked the drug habit that had pretty much destroyed his career, and put together Black Grape with dancer Bez and Kermit from Hip Hop outfit Ruthless Rap Assassins, with a sound that mixed funk, electronic rock, samples and dance beats. Their debut album It's Great When You're Straight..... Yeah stood out from all the guitar bands, and gave them three Top 20 hits, the best of which (in my honest opinion) was "Kelly's Heroes", Ryders' attack on celebrity worship. That their music was a success at a time when Indie bands were all the rage showed a changing attitude to what Britpop actually meant - innovative British dance acts like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fluke, and Leftfield were regularly included on Indie and Britpop-themed compilations at the time, Echobelly had a huge hit with their second album On, packed with effervescent tunes like "Great Things" and "King Of The Kerb", Ash, Blur, Oasis, Paul Weller, Bluetones, Sleeper all carried on releasing great singles. But the record for me that year was Different Class, by Sheffield pop oddballs Pulp. They'd had a very good year, with two huge hits in "Common People" and the double A-side "Mis-Shapes/Sorted For E's And Wizz", the latter having no doubt had a leg up from the media outrage surrounding the "drug wrap" sleeve it initially came in, this despite the very obvious anti-drug tale of "Sorted...", inspired by a rather disappointing rave experienced by frontman Jarvis Cocker. They'd also filled in at the last minute for The Stone Roses headline slot at Glastonbury after guitarist John Squire fell off his mountain bike (hey, rock 'n' roll), and ended up one the highlights. Pulp were, at the time, my favourite out the current crop of bands, seeming slightly darker, sexier, witty, and interesting than the rest, and after having bought the previous album His 'N' Hers i was really looking forward to hearing the new one. I'd heard a couple of tracks from it on Radio 1 one evening, when Jarvis was interviewed about the upcoming release, and my anticipation was high. I went straight to HMV on release day and, upon returning home, locked myself in my room and stuck the headphones on. (I wonder if people still get this excited about a new album coming out now? I imagine not.) From the opening weirdos and geeks call-to-arms anthem "Mis-Shapes", i was hooked. The themes of sex and class were still there, along with failed romance, infatuation, and the morning after feeling, but their indie disco sound was more theatrical, bigger, especially on the albums masterpiece "I Spy". Part Scott Walker, part Isaac Hayes, Jarvis' twisted revenge fantasy plays out to epic strings and disco rhythms, as he croons, yelps and speaks of getting revenge on the middle classes who have it all by sleeping with their wives. It's by far the best track on an album of many highlights, surpassing even the anthemic "Common People". "Disco 2000" was another favourite, although i'd pick the album version over the re-recorded single every time: the 7" version is fine, a bit more "pop", but the album version sounds like Christmas to me. Without a doubt, my album of 1995, and one of my favourites ever since.
One of the other things that stood out was the packaging. Cd sleeves are often quite dull, and one of the arguments for vinyl over cd is that the sleeve has more room for detail and innovative artwork. The booklet for Different Class contained 6 cards, each with a photo of a different situation on both sides (a wedding, a party, etc) with the band featured as grey cardboard cutouts amongst real people, emphasising the album title, and allowing the purchaser to pick their own front cover. I suspect that most people stuck with the wedding photo, and that became the standard cover when it was re-released years later. Getting the booklet back into the case without ripping it was annoying though.
I'm not a fan of following the herd. If an artist, film, tv series, etc is huge or the current trend then my contrary tendencies will rise to the surface. There have been many times when a mildly successful band suddenly become huge and i will lose interest, or when, wary of hype, i won't get into them until the fuss dies down. But at the same time i want the things i love to get recognition. As i said, contrary. I have always steered clear of mass appeal, lowest common denominator stuff. I wasn't interested in Manic Street Preachers when they first appeared - and i still think Generation Terrorists is packed with filler - only to take interest during their next two albums which were less successful. And then lose it during their This Is My Truth...... era. When i stood in a record shop trying to choose who to spend my hard earned on that week i would rarely pick the current favourites, usually plumping for record that would, if lucky, be a footnote in the history of music.
It's not often i love a new album enough to play it on repeat - not since my late twenties any rate - but that's what happened when i put my Eco-vinyl copy of IDLES Crawler on the turntable. After the deliberate self parody of last year's Ultra Mono Joe Talbot and co. have taken a bold step forward: Crawler largely dispenses with the political sloganeering and post-punk moshpit anthems and reaches within for inspiration. Talbots' well documented 14 year struggle with alcohol and drug abuse, and his long road to recovery are the dominant themes here, in all their ugly details, but with a life affirming sense of redemption. The music is largely quieter and more measured too. Opener "MTT 420 RR" is a slow burning electronic textured track which represents the crash that saw him at his lowest point, the spare and eerie atmosphere over which Talbot recites the details in gruesome honesty. "Car Crash" sounds exactly like just that: a minimalist dubby, g
For as long as there has been recorded music and a music industry there have been musical artists who, despite hype and promotion, have underperformed or sank without trace. Since i began reading the (now sadly defunct) music weeklies in the early nineties there was barely a week without a new band or solo artist being excitedly talked about as "the next big thing" . Before, during a and after Britpop this went into overdrive as record companies fought to sign the next Oasis/Blur/Pulp/Stone Roses etc, acts coming and going, sometimes without a sniff of chart success. On rare occasions bands would be declared "your new favourite band" before they'd even recorded a note! (Menswe@r spring immediately to mind.) Too often, a promising new act would be signed on the strength of a couple of raved about independent singles only for their new paymasters to demand changes to their musical style to make them more marketable to a mass audience: edges smoothed off, more expe
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