Another album twenty five years old right about now is The Charlatan's debut Some Friendly, an album I'll admit underwhelmed me a little at the time. After the 1-2-3 of their opening singles (Indian Rope, The Only One I Know and Then) it seemed a little light on further killer tunes and a bit samey. It's grown on me over the years, and it might still come up a little short but it's got bags of period charm, postcards from the past- a bit like listening to songs from 1965 in 1990. And it's got Sproston Green, the gig closing, album closing monster. I don't think the smart money was on them lasting. They've not only outlasted most of their contemporaries, they've made one of this year's best albums too in Modern Nature. The sobering thought about Some Friendly is from the line up that made this record, two of them- Rob Collins and Jon Brookes- are no longer with us.
Over Rising
1 comment:
I've a soft spot for them, a lot of that is cos of Martin Blunt's Mod past in Makin' Time who I loved mid 80s. I'm constantly surprised they're still going, but quite often underwhelmed by their albums. When they're good they're great, but sometimes they can be ordinary. Sproston Green is huge though, and I've a playlist, including some Chems remixes (which is when they sound best I think) of the singles and some album tracks that would make a brilliant compilation. They are just such a part of that turn of the 90s time. Even when Britpop was happening they were almost a nostalgia turn weren't they.
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