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Recommended Listening - January 2012

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Missing Andy – Dave (Invasion)

A single piano chord starts us off, closely followed by a couple of spoken lines: “I’m Dirty Suzanna, I’ve got problems with grammar… So boy where’s your manners, Come buy me a slammer.” The ivories tinkle again, I’m thinking Madness, and then suddenly we’re into a chirpy London-esque number reminiscent of the Camden 7. Except it’s not; it’s five young lads from Essex, so they replace the legendary NW1 location with Canning Town. I like it.

Thing is though, there are plenty of bands out there that try to sound like Madness, but in reality they end up sounding like a band who are trying to sound like Madness and failing. Missing Andy, however, sound like a band who have taken inspiration from Madness, as well as the likes of The Clash, The Jam, and lyrically dare I say The Levellers and The Hotknives too. In Dave they tell a story, cleverly combining social comment and observation with a tongue-in-cheek style and a few Carry On type innuendos. “Now I’ve had a couple of drinks, but you look a bit of all right, and I put your band sticker on me Primark knickers, and I think that might have broken the ice.”

I’ve had an eye on Missing Andy for a couple of months now, and I reckon Dave deserves success and will earn them a whole load of fans. In fact they’ve recently supported Madness and those who like a cheeky off-beat won’t be disappointed here. It’s funny, contagious, sing-along material, that uses a ska-style beat to draw you in yet cleverly doesn’t rely on it to carry you away.

Missing Andy describe themselves as an “indie rock act that are riding on the crest of a wave” with, “a stunning combination of driving rhythms, potent riffs, soaring instrumentation and an infectious mix of spoken and crooned vocals”. There’s a new album in the new year and I hope it’s waiting on my doormat when I get home. “So boy where’s your manners, Come buy me a slammer, And you’ll get laid, And I will call you Dave, Even though your name is… Steve.” Release date December 18.

Andy

Listen to: erm, Dave!

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Various – Trojan Lucky Sevens Box Set (Trojan)

In recent years, numerous singles issued by Trojan during the late Sixties and early Seventies have become hugely sought-after items, their extreme scarcity putting them out of reach of even those prepared to pay (apparently) three figure sums for their acquisition. As a result, most fans have, until now, been denied the opportunity to acquire or hear vinyl pressings of these rare gems unless attending an event where DJs proudly play a vinyl-only set list.

However, on January 9, The Trojan Lucky Sevens box set is launched to begin remedying that. It comprises faithful reproductions of seven of what they claim are the most collectable rocksteady and boss reggae 7in singles ever issued by the company. The collection here features records originally released on both Trojan as well as subsidiary labels such as Blue Cat, Amalgamated, Duke, Big Shot, Explosion and Grape. The artists include Lee Perry with the classic I Am The Upsetter and the flip side Thank You Baby, a wonderfully laid back rocksteady number from 1968 in a similar vein to the A-side. I can’t say I’ve heard it before and I had to double check the track listing to confirm it was him. What a gem. Bob Marley & The Wailers take of Stir It Up here from a similar era is equally contagious, reminding you there was more to this act than the western-produced more popular reggae sound of the late 1970s and 80s. Backed with This Train, you can here the Rastafarian drumming leading here, taking you to a campfire somewhere. Laid back towards horizontal.

Got To Get Away (aka Man Next Door) by The Paragons follows the rocksteady root perfectly, the vocal harmonies pure magic, and like many others here is both a classic and available on a CD somewhere. But for the vinyl junkies, this box set will prove essential, even if the price is around the £50 mark. The Junior Murvin tracks are more of the great stuff, while Keith and Tex lead us gently into the dawning of the reggae era with Tighten Up Your Gird and Look To The Sky (aka This Is My Song). Definitely two more of the priceless numbers here. I’m not sure about The Visions mind you, though Captain Hook does feature that wonderfully ‘cheap’ sounding organ so typical of the period throughout.

With production of the set strictly limited, this individually numbered collection also contains an insert detailing information on each of the discs featured, while each record is housed in a replica of the Trojan house-bag favoured by the company throughout the relevant era. If you’ve got these tracks elsewhere already you’ll know how good they are. If not, and like me you still retain a turntable, then while this set is arguably at the top end of the money, it is certainly cheaper than tracking down the originals and my bet is they won’t lose value either. Not that music should be an investment of course, only in the ‘aural pleasure’ way.

Andy

Listen to: Thank You Baby

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Various Artists – EP Choice (Acid Jazz)

We’ve been reviewing the Rare Mod series of EPs from Acid Jazz here and there for a while and now there’s a new box set out, a collector’s EP and a CD compilation of the range; all potentially confusing, so I’ll try my best to explain.

The CD is called EP Choice and features the 24 tracks previously featured on the vinyl EPs, essentially offering the music for those who don’t necessarily want to collect the vinyl. It kicks off with the soulful sounds of The Richard Kent Style and I’m Out, and continues with Steve Marriott & The Moments’ version of You Really Got Me, two tracks that both encompass 1960s mod music, yet are both different to each other – and are almost worth buying the album for alone. Other gems are the bluesy Need Your Lovin’ from The Muleskinners, Donnie Elbert’s instrumental version of This Old Heart of Mine, complete with upbeat handclaps which give it a very northern feel, and a raw sounding version of Circles by The Fleur de Lys. You can add to the list of artists The Clique, Sharon Tandy, The Fantastics and more and the CD comes with a booklet too, which is nice. On top of that, for anyone who hasn’t been collecting the vinyl is the Complete Box Set of all seven EPs and a 20 page booklet. And finally, for those of you who have been collecting , there’s the Collector’s Box. That’s the seventh EP only (Graham Dee’s Hitsville London EP), shrink-wrapped with the empty box and booklet to which you can add the six EPs you’ve already bought. Beware though that the vinyl offerings are limited editions, so get your finger out sharpish!

Andy

Listen to: Steve Marriott covering The Kinks’ You Really Got Me – pure class!

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The Damned – The Chiswick Singles (Chiswick)

From around 1979 to 1982, punk band The Damned were signed to indie label Chiswick where they released numerous singles, which is what makes up this 24 track album.

The Damned were going through a line up change at the time, performing as The Doomed for one live show, and as MotorDamn for another when Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible were joined on stage by Lemmy of Motorhead. This spawned a studio session with grand plans, although the results were restricted to a cover of The Sweet’s Ballroom Blitz and Motorhead’s Over The Top (both here). Motorhead related gems aside The Damned produced some classics during this period; Love Song, Smash It Up, Noise Noise Noise, Burglar and History of The World to name but a few.

A cover of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit is also worth a mention, as is their own number I Just Can’t Be Happy Today (which I had painted on my side panel back in the 80s, with a rather shorter sighted Smash It Up on the other one!). This period also saw The Damned mature from young punk to... well, whatever they matured into. A fine cheese maybe? Or possibly ‘band with best naked guitarist’. Keyboards were featuring by the end of their Chiswick years, which they concluded with their Friday the 13th EP, featuring Disco Man and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ Citadel.

In a nutshell then, including the informative booklet, this is an album that all Damned fans should own, as should those with an interest in alternative music, or simply those inquisitive as to what else Captain Sensible did apart from Happy Talk.

Andy

Listen to: Love Song, a classic.

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Button Up – Modena (Button Up Records)

Button Up are a six-piece act from north of the border that cite their musical styles as northern soul, ska and the Hammond mod sound all blended together. Let’s face it, their name gives a bit of a clue, although I’d say it errs towards the soul side of things, the strong vocals of Sara Kerr suggesting this more than anything else.

Same Time, Same Place starts us off, fast paced, the aforementioned vocals ably boosted by a thumping rhythm beneath, almost Stax like. The brass in Singin’ My Song next is definitely northern, adding a retro touch to a sound that is obviously influenced by the past but certainly produced today. Then Listen To Your Heart (beat) arrives, again I’m thinking soul but underneath this little gem are some distorted garage guitars. Midnight Stroll is definitely a 1960s instrumental where the keys take the lead, guitar plucks along behind; it’s a sharp-suited mod club garage delight from decades past. Beat Moving sort of follows, but with a ska-cum-reggae injection in places that I’m not convinced works. Two, Two One is another sound from Button Up, this time more mod revival, leading with heavy keyboards in a determined manner. Someday is simply a modern ska number and I soon skipped that to Eugenes Echo, a dub reggae style instrumental which sounded a lot better and indeed more in keeping with the rest of the album. We finish with Upside Down, an apt title for a rather confusing album at times, but which happily ends in a soulful way with quality Hammond and strong brass licks. Overall I rate the soul and mod style numbers here as the better ones. Available on CD or vinyl.

Andy

Listen to: Listen To Your Heart (beat)

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