Category: Lost Albums (Page 13 of 14)

Lost Albums: KLEERUP Kleerup

15 August 2011 /


How can an album boasting an international No1 hit single become lost despite coming into the marketplace only three years ago?

In 2007, Andreas Kleerup, producer and one-time drummer for THE MEAT BOYS undertook his first mainstream collaboration with fellow Swede, songstress Robyn.

The resultant ‘With Every Heartbeat’ became a massive worldwide smash, effectively relaunching Robyn as an electropop chanteuse, away from the R’n’B nightmare that her previous label BMG had pushed her towards.

Her own self-titled album also featured a collaboration with THE KNIFE called ‘Who’s That Girl?’ and eventually led to her recording ‘The Girl & The Robot’ with ROYKSOPP on their ‘Junior’ album. Today, Robyn is highly regarded as a fine example of today’s independent female artist, as exemplified by her own Konichiwa Records imprint and recent ‘Body Talk’  trilogy.

Meanwhile, the success of ‘With Every Heartbeat’ led to Kleerup teaming up with Cyndi Lauper on the song ‘Lay Me Down’ from her excellent comeback ‘Bring Ya To The Brink’ plus the opportunity to record his own solo album. Released initially as a 12 track album only in Sweden during 2008, the eponymous long player was then re-issued by EMI as a revised 14 track international edition in mid-2009.

Despite a significant number of guest vocalists, ‘Kleerup’ the album is an amazingly coherent piece of work with worldwide influences ranging from Italo, New York disco, Krautrock, Synth Britannia and Nordic folk. It successfully captures the essence of glorious synthpop melancholy but places it within a modern setting.

‘Hero’ is the perfect start and how OMD would sound if they formed in the 21st Century. An instrumental with a solid bassline and strong choral timbres, this easily could have come off ‘Architecture & Morality’. With the kooky Lykke Li on board, ‘Until We Bleed’ is a terrifically sparse production with distorted drum machine and gorgeous strings complimenting her nonchalant resignation.

‘Thank You For Nothing’ is actually the neo-wordless take of Kleerup’s track with Cyndi Lauper while ‘With Every Heartbeat’ needs no introduction; it is perfectly emotive electronic pop music, both lyrically and musically.

‘Tower Of Trellick’ and ‘Ain’t No Stopping’ are two more beautiful synthesizer instrumentals, think DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Nothing To Fear’ or in a modern dance context, SYSTEM F’s ‘Insolation’. Those listeners who miss what was a very important facet of albums and B-sides in the classic synthpop era will simply love this aspect of ‘Kleerup’.

But ‘Longing For Lullabies’ featuring Neneh Cherry’s half-sister Titiyo is a tearful, heartfelt ballad despite being driven with raw mechanical beats. The song’s vocal melody is simple, almost keyboard-like going up and down the ivory scale in the best tradition of classic synthpop and yes, OMD. You could even say that the way it ranges, it’s a bit Agnetha and Annifrid too!

Kleerup exposes some of his rock roots with ‘On My Own Again’ on which he sings and while not unpleasant, one can see why like Moby, female vocalists are his preferred vehicle for lyrical expression. ‘Iris’ could be Kleerup doing ‘Crockett’s Theme’, but it’s far better than that and is minus the cheese factor.

This musical interlude leads to one of the album’s highlights, the superb pulsing Italo disco of ‘3am’. Marit Bergman provides the voice here to deliver what could have been the outcome if had ABBA worked with Giorgio Moroder. Richly melodic in both vocal and synth departments, this is a truly lost jewel. Marit Bergman issued it as a B-side, but it really should have been flipped over.

‘History’ with Linda Sundblad continues this disco tradition but at a more easy going tempo while ‘Misery’ is the superior of the two Kleerup vocal offerings with its strong NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF influences.

The excellent album ends with two brilliant instrumentals to develop the Germanic template further. ‘The End’ is more guitar driven in a Motorik fashion that would make Michael Rother proud while ‘I Just Want To Make That Sad Boy Smile’ is beautifully and minimally ambient like CLUSTER or Klaus Schulze; a perfect closer.

Of the three tracks that were on the Swedish release that didn’t make the International edition, the one that should have been included is the Neneh Cherry sung ‘Forever’. Very pretty and almost nursery rhyme like, the children’s choir works well with Cherry’s soulful application while the backing track is effectively a beefed up pop version of ‘I Just Want To Make That Sad Boy Smile’. ‘Chords’ is an instrumental that does pale in comparison with the others in the main act while ‘Waiting For Girl’ featuring Lisa Milberg is just odd, the darkest of all the recordings from the sessions and probably better positioned now as a digital bonus curio.

In terms of production, this is the perfect CV for Kleerup although his knack for tunes and melody is what makes this album stand out.

And that’s the key word; album – this is not some random collection of songs as most modern pop albums now seem to be. On paper, a musician gathering a bunch of different vocalists is something that does not usually result in a cohesive artistic statement and is probably why this album has not had the investigation and recognition it deserves.

But Kleerup’s debut is a well paced, seasoned body of work and a fine example of quality pop music, electronic or otherwise. In a 2009 which saw a synthpop renaissance, it’s a shame this magnificent album was largely overlooked.

‘Kleerup’ is still available via EMI Records

https://www.facebook.com/kleerupcongty

https://twitter.com/kleerup

Text by Chi Ming Lai
15th August 2011, updated 13th September 2017

Lost Albums: SIMPLE MINDS Sons & Fascination + Sister Feelings Call

11 July 2011 /

Mere mention of SIMPLE MINDS always recalls horrible memories of plodding stadium rock with Jim Kerr’s tiresome shouts of “LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS” accompanied by overblown ten minute arrangements, swathed in pomposity.

Indeed, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s first truly awful concert was SIMPLE MINDS at Hammersmith Odeon in 1984 when the band played just twelve songs in two hours… you do the maths! Meanwhile The Tube’s broadcast of their tedious 1985 concert at The Ahoy with the 11 minute version of ‘Waterfront’ was most people’s cue to get out.

But there was a time when SIMPLE MINDS were one of the most promising young bands in Britain. And in 1981, they delivered what has now become their most forgotten body of work; ‘Sons & Fascination’ / ‘Sister Feelings Call’. Even a great 2009 article about ‘The Rise and Fall of SIMPLE MINDS’ on Popmatters largely overlooked this great double album.

Despite a shaky start with ‘Life In A Day’, the Glaswegians started experimenting with more electronics on ‘Real To Real Cacophony’ and ‘Empires & Dance’ with the latter being cited by writer Chris Bohn as “the record DAVID BOWIE could have made with ‘Lodger’, if he’d been alittle bit more honest to himself”. This monochromatic European travelogue with its claustrophobic demeanour, courtesy of future RADIOHEAD and MUSE producer John Leckie, had been a critical if not commercial success.

After an unhappy sojourn with Arista Records which led to them being dropped following the failure of ‘I Travel’ as a single, SIMPLE MINDS signed to Virgin Records who were at this point gambling their future on synthesizer based acts such as THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JAPAN and through its Dindisc subsidiary, OMD.

To exploit their KRAFTWERK, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF influences to the full, SIMPLE MINDS were teamed up with producer Steve Hillage. A hippy musician formally of the band GONG, Hillage was also a big fan of the German experimental scene which by now was shaping the intelligent pop landscape along with home grown heroes such as Bowie and Roxy. He gave SIMPLE MINDS a more accessible brightness that had been noticeably absent in the band’s Arista work. Bursting with ideas, the band not only recorded an album, they sort of did two!

The main feature was entitled ‘Sons and Fascination’ and contained eight songs that captured the motorik energy that was always apparent with the flanged bass powerhouse of Derek Forbes steering proceedings alongside solidly dependable drummer Brian McGee. With Forbes constructing rhythmical but articulate basslines not unlike Mick Karn from JAPAN, the works were then coloured by Mick MacNeil who came armed with his Roland Jupiter 4, Roland RS09 and Korg 770 alongside the guitars of Charlie Burchill which were often so layered in effects that when harmonised together with MacNeil’s synths, they were almost as one.

Opening with the tremendous ‘In Trance As Mission’, the solid bass over a slight offbeat is progressively built up with keyboards as Jim Kerr rambles almost unintelligibly about the “courage of dreams” – dreaming and ambition were always part of SIMPLE MINDS’ manifesto. The lost single ‘Sweat In Bullet’ is the more frantic older brother of ‘Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)’, driven by scratchy guitar while what follows is a sound that has never been repeated.

On the mighty ’70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall’, the distorted bass is counterpointed by the horrifying noise of a dentist’s drill! Almost industrial, the aural discomfort is something that will shock anyone that has only ever heard the abomination of ‘Belfast Child’! The raw edge continues on the thundering ‘Boys From Brazil’ where Kerr attacks the rise of the extreme right wing.

‘Love Song’ is the hit single that at the time, never actually was. Pulsed by sequencers and driven by that distinctive syncopated bassline, Hillage’s production is a “coat of many colours” although the song’s inherent repetition means that it perhaps outstays its welcome by about 45 seconds; this incidentally was later fixed on Gregg Jackman’s subtle ’92 single remix.

Whatever, ‘Love Song’ is still a classic despite Kerr’s abstract observations being almost gibberish. After the release of all that pent up energy, a lone chattering rhythm box announces the arrival of the beautiful ballad ‘This Earth That You Walk Upon’.

The drum machine remains for ‘Sons and Fascination’ which sounds positively Roman, clattering away like a synthetic tattoo for the chariot race in ‘Ben Hur’. And to finish, a repeated synthesizer motif and elastic slap leads the atmospheric palette of ‘Seeing Out The Angel’.

Of course, this wasn’t actually the end as initial copies of the album came with a seven track Siamese Twin called ‘Sister Feelings Call’. In the context of the modern day bonus disc containing half a dozen pointless remixes, ‘Sister Feelings Call’ has to be one of the greatest freebies ever. It starts with the amazing ‘Theme For Great Cities’.

Fusing CAN with TANGERINE DREAM, MacNeil’s haunting vox humana and the rhythm section covered in dub echo bridge into possibly one of the greatest instrumental signatures ever! This is then followed by ‘The American’, imperial in its Apache-like approach, pounding to the heart of the dance without the need for hi-hats, just triggered electronics and funky hypnotic bass.

Inspired by the bright colours of Jackson Pollock’s modern art, Kerr’s varied cosmic intonation of the word “American” in the chorus is delightfully bizarre and memorable. The rich Roland organ lines of ’20th Century Promised Land’ confirm what an inspired period this must have been for Kerr and Co although the collection’s remaining tracks ‘Careful In Career’ and ‘Wonderful In Young Life’ don’t quite soar to such great heights while ‘League Of Nations’ does possess a stark charm with its beat box led tribal TALKING HEADS feel.

One thing that is noticeable about this era of SIMPLE MINDS is how the compositions are more fragments of music with multiple riffs modulating over a minimal chord structure. This may sound like a recipe for poor songwriting but the end results were perhaps more musically inventive and interesting than the traditional rock approach.

The fine perfect balance between art and pop was finally achieved with the massively successful and outstanding ‘New Gold Dream’ album in 1982. But then it went horribly wrong with ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ when the production helm was given to the vastly over rated Steve Lillywhite who did what he normally did and made the band sound like they’d been recorded down a drainpipe! Released in 1984, it was quite obvious that the lure of the Yankee dollar in light of U2’s success just couldn’t be resisted.

Judging by the original ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ demos, a technologically sophisticated album had been planned with ‘Speed Your Love To Me’ in particular sounding more like VISAGE’s ‘Fade To Grey’ than its eventual BIG COUNTRY pastiche. But it was rock music tailored for American ears that the band opted to aim for. It was this embracement that later made the band’s name quite ironic.

But to be fair, dumbing down the sound for the synthphobic USA was starting to be common place among British bands. However, it’s also ironic that around this time, having been influenced by ‘New Gold Dream’, U2 decided to get a bit more artier and took on board some Eurocentric experimentation with Brian Eno as their willing conspirator.

Whereas after the massive sales of the 1985 FM rock flavoured long player ‘Once Upon A Time’, SIMPLE MINDS gradually experienced a law of diminishing returns, U2 more or less maintained their standing in the long term and are still working with Eno to this day.

Interestingly, at their most recent concerts, remaining founder members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill may have finally seen the light about what was musically SIMPLE MINDS’ most glorious period – ‘Sons and Fascination’ and ‘This Earth That You Walk Upon’ are in the live set along with material from the ‘New Gold Dream’ album while ‘Belfast Child’ has finally been dropped!

‘Sons & Fascination’ / ‘Sister Feelings Call’ is available on Virgin Records

https://www.simpleminds.com/

https://www.facebook.com/simpleminds/

https://twitter.com/simplemindscom

Text by Chi Ming Lai
11th July 2011

Lost Albums: PEACH Audiopeach

16 April 2011 /


The concept of PEACH was “ABBA meets THE KLF”. Released on Mute Records in September 1997, ‘Audiopeach’ is one of those synthpop albums that has been lost in the midsts of Cool Britannia.

The trio had been slowly building a profile, having supported ERASURE, based on the musical reputations of their two instrumentalists Pascal Gabriel and Paul Statham. The pair had met during the recording of ex-BAUHAUS singer Peter Murphy’s solo album ‘Cascade’. Gabriel worked with BOMB THE BASS, S’EXPRESS and EMF.

Meanwhile Statham was the Goth icon’s writing partner and had been the guitarist with B-MOVIE. Led by Steve Hovington, B-MOVIE were a band with so much promise that their then manager Stevo of Some Bizzare Records fame was able to include the then unknown SOFT CELL as part of the conditions for Phonogram Records to sign the Nottingham quartet in an innovative ‘2 for 1’ deal! Completing PEACH’s line-up was blonde South African born singer and dancer Lisa Lamb who Gabriel and Statham had met at an art exhibition in London.

Released in 1996, first single ‘On My Own’ was classic pop for the modern era. Lisa Lamb’s vocal delivery echoed Belinda Carlisle going electro while the vibrant backing took the dance sound of the times into a song format. Although failing to capture the hearts of the British public, ‘On My Own’ was later crucially chosen for a key scene in the Gwyneth Paltrow film ‘Sliding Doors’ which incidentally was directed by Peter Howitt, the actor who played Joey Boswell in the sitcom ‘Bread’!

This eventually led to the song entering the US Billboard Top 40 in 1998 where the band had to be renamed PEACH UNION for the North American market. The follow up single ‘From This Moment On’ is a truly lost jewel. Mid-paced synth pulses accompanied by Lamb’s cutely processed “do-do-do” vocals coupled to a tremendous tune in the Bacharach and David tradition unfortunately went over the heads of most. As a result, the album was delayed until 1997.

‘Audiopeach’ was a lovely, lushly produced album. The standout track is ‘Deep Down Together’ a frantic spacey Eurostomper in the vein of SPARKS’ ‘(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing’. With throbbing hints of ‘I Feel Love’, it is seasoned with some wonderfully distinctive vocal ad-libs from the late Billy MacKenzie. He pops up again on the NEW ORDER-ish ‘Higher Ground’ which offers some love technique while on their final single ‘Sorrow Town’, the trio go all poptastic.

Photo by Adrian Green

An intended single release of the very pretty ‘Made In Vain’ was abandoned for a reissue of ‘On My Own’ following its North American success which was then met with ambivalence, reaching only No67 in the UK charts.

The beautiful album closer ‘Hush’ recalls PET SHOP BOYS’ more reflective moments, although Lamb’s voices gives it some soulful intensity sounding not unlike Tennant and Lowe’s compositions for Dusty Springfield’s ‘Reputation’ album. Of the other tracks, ‘Perfect World’ is a pleasant electro-acoustic excursion similar to Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr’s side project ELECTRONIC.

Driven by a chunky bass triplet, ‘Tell Me’ has a club-friendly feel while continuing in that mood, ‘Give Me Tomorrow’ is punctuated by the chunky Italo House piano of the times.

Unlike the other one girl / two guy electronic based acts of the day like SAINT ETIENNE, DUBSTAR and ONE DOVE, PEACH were too obviously electronic to attract the support of a media drunk on Britpop and not consistently dancey enough attract a club following. Unfortunately for their few admirers, there would be no second album.

Photo by Pete Walsh

Put in simple terms, ‘Audiopeach’ was under appreciated and happened to be ten years ahead of its time. Despite the unfortunate timing, PEACH laid the foundations of a pop sound that would become widely accepted by the late-noughties.

Since PEACH disbanded, Gabriel and Statham continued their partnership for a number of years, writing and producing songs for a variety of acts including Dido, Dot Allison, Kylie Minogue and Rachel Stevens.

More recently, Gabriel has successfully collaborated with LADYHAWKE, LITTLE BOOTS, MISS KITTIN, GOLDFRAPP and MARINA & THE DIAMONDS, while Statham has worked with THE SATURDAYS and Sarah Nixey

Lamb founded a sonic branding company called Sonicsista, creating audio identities for clients such as T Mobile, AT&T, Ben & Jerry’s and Disney. In late 2009, she performed two PEACH tracks ‘From This Moment On’ and ‘Sorrow Town’ at a special one-off performance in South London.

‘Audiopeach’ is still available on CD via Mute Records

http://www.inspiracy.com/peach

http://www.melophobia.com

http://www.paulstatham.com

http://www.sonicsista.com

Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th April 2011

Lost Albums: RACHEL STEVENS Come & Get It

24 February 2011 /


Released in October 2005 and boasting four Top 12 singles, the former SClubber’s vastly underrated electro-oriented album ‘Come & Get It’ peaked at No 28 in the UK which in manufactured pop terms, was deemed a total disaster.

Initially at the time, Rachel Stevens’ success seemed to be guaranteed; she was regularly in the media spotlight and also a popular lads mag pin-up.

So her second album, assembled by a team of top writers and producers including Richard X, Hannah Robinson, Xenomania, Pascal Gabriel, Paul Statham and Rob Davis (who co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’) seemed a surefire way of cementing it.

But one thing a pretty face never guarantees is sales. Lads mag readers generally don’t buy music unless it is of the Mancunian monobrow rock variety while the G-A-Y audience are suspicious of any prospective pop divas who maybe have just had life a little bit too easy… Stevens’ middle class drama school roots probably reinforced that!

And generally, young women prefer boy bands and just don’t buy the records of other females if the artist is aesthetically more pleasing than themselves! The writers and producers, all experienced hands, probably foresaw that Stevens’ pop career was likely to flop so used their contributions to the album as an excuse to experiment and have fun. The end result is a collection of pop songs bursting with inventive, fun and risqué ideas.

The album’s launch single ‘I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)’ is a Rob Davis penned glam stomper with a touch of ‘Antmusic’. The provocative lyrics certainly wouldn’t have been allowed on CBBC: “I feel such a traitor – oh, I let you in my back door… rough love’s so deceiving – I said never again but here we are!” All highly amusing if you appreciate the saucier pleasures in life! Rob Davis also pays tribute to his MUD roots with his other offering, reprising that schaffel beat on UK bonus track ‘Every Little Thing’.

Richard X’s GOLDFRAPP-lite production on ‘Some Girls’ has Stevens playing a wannabe who ends up on pop’s casting couch: “Some girls always get what they wanna – all I seem to get is the other – this won’t last for long not forever – the champagne makes it taste so much better!”…

Co-written by X with Hannah Robinson apparently in response to having one of his GOLDFRAPP remixes rejected and based on some real music industry anecdotes, it was ‘Some Girls’ that first put the icy glam electro sound into the mainstream consciousness, so much so that many thought ‘Ooh La La’ was actually the follow-up to ‘Some Girls’, much to fury of Alison Goldfrapp! “I AM NOT RACHEL STEVENS!” she exclaimed!

The Richard X led ‘Crazy Boys’ is another Frapper’s delight featuring timpani coloured 6/8 time signatures and atmospheric electronics that recall Jean Michel Jarre’s ‘Oxygene Part II’… it could be BLACK BOX RECORDER with a Gallic twist although on ‘Je M’Appelle’, Ms Stevens actually gives the French language a go with an ‘Allo ‘Allo accent! Despite this, it does recall the comedic charm of SPARKS’ ‘Je M’Appelle Russell’!

‘So Good’ is brilliantly bouncy and tastefully engaged electro produced by Pascal Gabriel; and yes, it does sound like LADYHAWKE without the guitars. Meanwhile with his erstwhile partner Paul Statham from B-MOVIE, their heavenly co-write ‘I Will Be There’ features the sort of pulsing sequencers that drove NEW ORDER’s dancefloor exploits.

Post-punk influences continue in abundance with a sample from THE CURE’s ‘Lullaby’ forming the basis of ‘It’s All About Me’. A slice of wispy electro-soul a la Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’ comes in the shape of ‘Secret Garden’ while ‘Negotiate With Love’ is squelchy Scandinavian synthpop with added Simmons drum sounds. These two have hints of both Annie and Robyn. Xenomania chip in the lovely mid-paced ‘Nothing Good About This Goodbye’ but it is their main event closer ‘Funny How’ that shines brightest.

Apparently co-written by Stevens with the hit factory who later worked with PET SHOP BOYS, this is a perfect Princess Stephanie Eurodisco record in the vein of ‘I’m Not Scared’. The best track on the collection, ‘Funny How’ should have been covered by GIRLS ALOUD and turned into a massive hit.

The gorgeous synthpop gems ‘Love Is Pain’ and ‘Turn to Stone’ from Cole and co’s most recent album ‘Out of Control’ take their template from here.

‘Come And Get It’ is a superb album that can be appreciated on an intellectual level as well as a throwaway pop experience. Whether Miss Stevens is actually really singing is a moot point as each of the lead vocals on the album appear to be different; it could be any pretty poppet!

Rachel Stevens is the girl you should fancy but actually don’t! Is her look too flawless? Is it because she always appears too pleased with herself? It is rumoured THE STREETS’ ‘Fit But You Know It’ is actually about her! This aura may have actually hampered the potential of this album. Whatever, the craft and quality danceable electro on ‘Come & Get It’ delivered on the path paved by GOLDFRAPP and predicted what was to come with LADYHAWKE, LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX.

In its post-release reappraisal, All Music Guide said it was “a collection of thoroughly excellent electronic dance-pop songs” and “the definitive album of 2000s UK chart pop”. The Guardian placed it in their ‘1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’ list. And LITTLE BOOTS later acknowledged ‘Come & Get It’ as an influence on her hit album ‘Hands’. Like it or not, ‘Come & Get It’ really was forward thinking pop music!

‘Come & Get It’ is still available as a CD or download via Polydor Records

https://www.rachelstevens.com/

https://twitter.com/MsRachelStevens

https://www.instagram.com/msrachelstevens/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
24th February 2011, updated 8th January 2017

Lost Albums: YOUNGER YOUNGER 28s Soap

5 January 2011 /

In an era full of dour landfill indie in the fallout from Britpop, YOUNGER YOUNGER 28s were the shining light in synthpop.

They were a marvellous cross between two of Sheffield greatest bands, combining the catchy avant pop of THE HUMAN LEAGUE with the observational lyrical wit of PULP.

Their only album ‘Soap’ was a cutting tongue-in-cheek satire on class aspirations and dreams; a pastiche novelty record based around strong tunes and upbeat chimes despite the inherent darkness and despair of the subject matter.

But lyrically, it just might have been seen as a little too condescending in the eyes of those who did not understand irony or have a sense of humour. One of the band’s instrumental brains was bizarrely Jimmy Dickinson, a refugee from Scarborough’s own poodle rockers LITTLE ANGELS! He opted not to have a drummer and bassist in YOUNGER YOUNGER 28s because his years in the industry had concluded they “would just get in the way” and “take up loads of room in the van”!

Fronted by a comedic Teddy Boy version of Phil Oakey in Joe Northern aka Ashley Reaks, his dry Yorkshire droll was competently backed by the Joanne and Susanne of the quartet, Andie and Liz who were recruited from the Academy of Contemporary Music, rather than a disco or a cocktail bar. Released in March 2000, ‘Soap’ does what it says on the tin… it’s effectively a satirical musical version of Coronation Street!

The drama starts right from the off. ‘Sugar Sweet Dreams’ is ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ rewritten for a Tarantino movie while second single ‘Next Big Thing’ sends up the dreadful deluded wannabee culture of today but predicted by YY28 in 1999.

It tells the story of Kim who “wants to be a supermodel, not a supermarket checkout girl”. However, “she’s not exactly ugly, just not very pretty!”

‘First Love’ is YOUNGER YOUNGER 28s’ own ‘Louise’. Innocence and naivety are all captured in a four minute romantic comedy that most synth geeks can totally relate too.

Meanwhile, ‘Teenage Mum’ sends up the whole ‘Girlpower’ ethos with “the peroxide blonde from a high rise block… who can’t keep her legs shut” and uses her “sex as a weapon”!

Debut single ‘We’re Going Out’ is a wacky B52’s styled celebration of the weekend where if you “call Pete Tong, you can’t go wrong”. And rather amusingly, it does seem to be the long lost elder cousin of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s comeback single ‘Night People’! ‘No More Yesterdays’ actually looks more towards guitar textured NEW ORDER and is probably the most melancholic item in the collection.

There are sardonic narratives galore with the eponymous subjects ‘Julie’, ‘Dirty Harry’, ‘Gary’ and ‘Valerie’ each respectively being a day dreaming factory queen, a heroin addicted sex worker, an HIV un-PC male stripper and an adult chat-line hostess! The album ends with a female-led cover of THE CURE’s ‘In Between Days’.

After all the post-modern irony and the optimistic but hopeless dreams of escape, this closer is a bit of a disappointment and comes over like Goth karaoke. It’s not exactly awful, just not very brilliant!

The fate of ‘Soap’ could be summed up by the electro-Spector grandeur of ‘We Nearly Made It’… and unfortunately, make it they didn’t. It was a case of right band at the wrong time.

‘We’re Going Out’ reached No.61 in the singles chart and ‘Soap’ bombed. A brand new single ‘Two Timer (Crap In Bed)’ was issued as promo but its release withdrawn and the band sadly dropped.

Their superb B-sides ‘Ginger Determination’ and ‘Karaoke Queen’ (best line “He is a Karaoke Queen, he’s not gay or straight, he’s in between!”) remain little heard gems even among synth aficionados. Today, Jimmy Dickinson is a teacher while Ashley Reaks still performs music and comedy. The whereabouts of Andie and Liz are currently unknown. But it’s difficult to predict even in the current electro friendly climate whether everyone would have got this fairly elaborate joke.

Still, YOUNGER YOUNGER 28s were a ray of sunshine at a time when the NME’s idea of an exciting new band was their V2 labelmates STEREOPHONICS or even worse, TRAVIS!

Yet they were vilified by the NME before even releasing an album for sounding a bit like THE HUMAN LEAGUE. Strangely now ten years on, a lot of pop music sounds a bit like THE HUMAN LEAGUE!

‘Soap’ was released on V2 Records

http://www.ashleyreaks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ashleyreaksart/

By Chi Ming Lai
5th January 2011

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