To my genuine astonishment, I've just found that Flowered Up's chart performance was actually even worse than that of Gay Dad (which had previously been my standard proof of that theory).
I'm not at all baffled, but then I remember one of my friends becoming their No. 1 Fan...and her arrest for assaulting Virginia Bottomley on a train.
Really, what the fuck was the point of Gay Dad? I remember a lot of bullshit around an incredibly nondescript band - they could as well have been called Insert Band Here.
There's no mystery about Lauren Laverne - she's smiley and clever and has a sexy speaking voice. Basically nine points on the Mariella Frostrup scale and the two of them clearly share out the same pool of work these days. I like her, particularly when you consider the people she's preventing from gaining greater prominence.
Otoh Kenickie ... you can see how a niche clearly existed for a Geordie[1] Shonen Knife, but it wasn't exactly a desperate need.
Oh, and has anyone mentioned Menswear yet? I can honestly say I don't think I ever heard any of their records. Shame I couldn't say the same about 'words read' and 'pictures seen'.
Actually, why the hell did I even bother buying the NME, when my favourite music came from the Bristol pirate stations?
I can take or leave Kenickie, but Laverne's guest vocal on Mint Royale's "Don't Falter" is lovely.
re: NME, the still-ongoing attempt to portray St Etienne as curatorial chroniclers of Pop! London past and present doesn't hide the fact that a) they're a couple of synth twiddlers fronted by a weedy-voiced singer; b) the hacks still all fancy Sarah Cracknell.
Also, Menswear weren't good, but they were an order of magnitude less bad than Gay Dad. Being Brave is a tolerable Herman's Hermits B-side; I'll Manage Somehow is a tolerable Squeeze B-side, and Stardust is a tolerable Sweet B-side.
was your standby not:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMAHtOuZtnc
"you've got big pockets!"
was your standby not:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMAHtOuZtnc
"you've got big pockets!"
heh. I think there's been too much Madchester and Britpop in H1, need to get a lot more avant-garde stuff in H2.
ReplyDeleteFlowered Up were definitive proof that there are some bands that the NME simply cannot persuade the public to like.
To my genuine astonishment, I've just found that Flowered Up's chart performance was actually even worse than that of Gay Dad (which had previously been my standard proof of that theory).
ReplyDeleteI'm still baffled by how Lauren Laverne has managed to go from Kenickie to national treasure.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Kenickie were ace.
ReplyDeleteUnlike, say, off the top of my head, Ultrasound[1], Tiger, Campag Velocet...
[1] Debut single, whose name completely escapes me, excluded.
I'm not at all baffled, but then I remember one of my friends becoming their No. 1 Fan...and her arrest for assaulting Virginia Bottomley on a train.
ReplyDeleteReally, what the fuck was the point of Gay Dad? I remember a lot of bullshit around an incredibly nondescript band - they could as well have been called Insert Band Here.
There's no mystery about Lauren Laverne - she's smiley and clever and has a sexy speaking voice. Basically nine points on the Mariella Frostrup scale and the two of them clearly share out the same pool of work these days. I like her, particularly when you consider the people she's preventing from gaining greater prominence.
ReplyDeleteOtoh Kenickie ... you can see how a niche clearly existed for a Geordie[1] Shonen Knife, but it wasn't exactly a desperate need.
[1] oh fucking spare me.
I had "thinking man's Fearne Cotton" in mind as a possible explanation - seems I wasn't far off.
ReplyDeleteOh, and has anyone mentioned Menswear yet? I can honestly say I don't think I ever heard any of their records. Shame I couldn't say the same about 'words read' and 'pictures seen'.
ReplyDeleteActually, why the hell did I even bother buying the NME, when my favourite music came from the Bristol pirate stations?
I can take or leave Kenickie, but Laverne's guest vocal on Mint Royale's "Don't Falter" is lovely.
ReplyDeletere: NME, the still-ongoing attempt to portray St Etienne as curatorial chroniclers of Pop! London past and present doesn't hide the fact that a) they're a couple of synth twiddlers fronted by a weedy-voiced singer; b) the hacks still all fancy Sarah Cracknell.
YES to Don't Falter.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Menswear weren't good, but they were an order of magnitude less bad than Gay Dad. Being Brave is a tolerable Herman's Hermits B-side; I'll Manage Somehow is a tolerable Squeeze B-side, and Stardust is a tolerable Sweet B-side.