Unauthorised item in the bagging area

Tuesday 25 May 2010

The Charlatans 'Sproston Green'


I really like this and I don't think it's entirely nostalgia. Sproston Green was the mini-epic that closed their first album, Some Friendly (recently re-mastered, with extra tracks. And a tacky badge probably). It closed their gigs in 1989 as well, and was a swirl of Hammond organ, guitars and Tim Burgess's ode to a girl/place in leafy Cheshire, and it sounds quaint but great twenty years on. Sounded cool live too, like a little brother of I Am The Resurrection. That's not meant to sound snide.

You wouldn't have put much money on them still being around two decades later, and as well as being 'survivors', the press had them tagged as 'the unluckiest band in Britain'- they shed guitarist Jon, temporarily lost the bassist Martin to depression, lost the Hammond player Rob permanently to a car crash, and sued their manager for missing money. Then Tim decided to move to L.A. They also sometimes seemed a bit, well, lightweight. In the early-to-mid nineties whenever I heard a new song by them I'd think 'that sounds OK, next time they'll be great'. I'm not sure it happened. They got caught up in Britpop, and made Tellin' Stories, which had some strong songs and good vocals but lost the naive psyche-organ led charm of their earlier stuff. But I came to praise them not bury them, and this is good 'un.

The Charlatans_01_10_Sproston Green (re-mastered).mp3

No comments: