THE AGENDA
Start The Panic (Must Destroy; CD)
     Kids, kids, kids… Honestly. What the fuck is going on these days? Why is it that modern garage bands suck? Why is it that melody and feel are overlooked for bludgeoning 2-chord power? What's with the hardcore meets garage suffix? The horrid wah wah? The shouted vocals? The sudden hate of retroism? Why reinvent? Athen's youngsters The Agenda are culprits and gain zilch on the coolness scale for claiming to invent something called 'mod-core' - the cross pollination of '60s mod-freakbeat and '80s hardcore!!! For fuck's sake: how clueless is this? About as much as playing rural blues on '80s synths! Ten years ago The Mummies took garage-frat to extremes, and brilliantly. This sorry affair though is a sham! The older boys knew what they were doing, but The Agenda and their phoney middle-class revolution know jack shit! Bring back The Dwarves' Horror Stories!
     Panic? I laughed! Punk-junk for teenagers who don't know any better and ex-indie kids who're jumping on the bandwagon! 
www.mustdestroymusic.com
I. P. Freely

BIFF BANG POW
Waterbomb (Revola; CD)
     Before becoming an indie rock label mogul with Creation records Alan McGee fronted the aptly titled Biff Bang Pow throughout the first half of the 1980s before leaving the stage to concentrate on the music biz. Marked by fey vocals and the ever-present 'indie' feel (equal parts '80s art-y rock and '60s folk-rock jangle) this new Revola comp does prove the band had a few good songs -- 'Chocolate Elephant Man' and 'Someone Stole My Wheels' could quiet easily be the band's contemporary inspiration The Rain Parade whilst the acoustic 'Baby, You Just Don't Care' features one of McGee's better vocal performances and a haunting 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme' guitar pattern that creates a spooky ambience -- but in all fairness many bands sounded like this. Biff Bang Pow, although bringing new dimensions to '60s pop and psych, sound like the product of '80s teens trying to forge something other than the dire contemporary synth-pop from a few disparate influences.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE BLONDES
Swedish Heat (Teenacide; CD)
     This Los Angeles combo was originally called Eagle, but became The Blondes when earnest navel gazer turned corporate hack Don Henley sent them a cease and desist letter. On their debut U.S. release, Swedish Heat, the boys present a dynamite sound that perhaps can best be described as Sell Out-era Who meets Desolation Boulevard-era Sweet meets Neurotica-era Redd Kross. Trust me friends, this combination is very easy to digest from an aural standpoint, as it's among the most devoted, 'authentic' sounding album you'll hear in a long time, featuring the two-pronged lead vocal attack of songwriters Adam Siegel and Bill Dusha, unfailingly infectious melodies...and the band really rocks! The album is fueled by jet-propelled tunes like 'I Just Wanna Stay Home,' 'Vesna Velovic,' 'California Sunshine,' the would-have-been-a-hit-in-the-'70s 'Teenage Foxes,' and the harder edged 'High-Five Suicide.' The band gleefully name checks underground pop culture with 'Just One Of The Guys' (named after a sorely under appreciated '80s teen movie), and an ultra-cool ode to the ultimate '70s dynababe, 'Suzi Quatro'. As good as the original tunes are, the best song on Swedish Heat is undoubtedly 'Igen,' originally recorded in the '60s by the criminally unknown Hungarian band Illes (ironically, 'Igen' is one of the worst recordings in the Illes catalog, but the Blondes version, which has 1000% more balls and really emphasizes the song's amazing chord changes, is better than anything Illes ever did). 
     Some people may see The Blondes as the second coming of The Sweet, but you'll see them as the first coming of The Blondes. 
www.teenaciderecords.com
David Bash

MICHAEL CARPENTER & KING'S RD
KingsRdworks (Not Lame; CD)
     Michael Carpenter is a massive power pop talent. His best songs are infectious pop gems with huge hooks, like the amazingly uplifting 'Thinking About You', which has the potential to be massive international hit if recorded by some cute teen chart band. Sadly, their managers will continue to pick insipid and lame songs for their puppet proteges, rather than real pop songs. 
     King's Rd are Carpenter's new band. They play well and will allow him to reproduce many of his best songs live for the first time. Michael's voice possesses a heartfelt, bittersweet yearning quality that is absolutely perfect for the type of material he writes. Unfortunately this album doesn't quite move me as much as some of his earlier material. None of the songs are bad, but even the best songs, such as 'Here It Comes' lack the vital ingredient that turns a good song into a great one. Perhaps the songs need more time to work their spell.
www.notlame.com
Phil Suggitt

THE CRYBABIES
How The Other Half Lives (Dino; CD)
     They sure ain't that young and they sure ain't pretty, but for a bunch of straight looking 'non hip' guitar janglers this Massachusetts quintet forge an easy-on-the-ear form of garage-pop that owes greatly to The Flamin' Groovies and '60s Beatle-y teen-punk ala The Gants. The band's tunes are fairly memorable and covers ('Man With Money', 'I Wonder', 'Blue Turns To Grey' and 'I'll Cry Alone') are executed fairly well. It's not an exciting album by any means; it plods and trips rather than takes off. This is what '60s teen-jangle sounds like when it's played by respectable middle-aged citizens. Good, but no great shakes!
www.dinorecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

BART DAVENPORT
Bart Davenport (Mushroom Pillow; CD)
     'We are living in the time of Great Gatsby and we simply cannot spend every single day re-enacting the civil war,' states Bart. An ex-'60s purist who has now moved over to the otherside, one time Bay Area Face, R&B singer and frontman of San Fran's finest mod band The Loved Ones and, more recently, trendy acid-jazz unit The Kinetics, Davenport as a solo performer has somehow managed to balance his love for folk (which he even mentioned as his preferred genre in the sleeve notes to The Loved Ones Get Hip EP) with a contemporary approach.
     On self-titled debut a blend of subtle electro and plaintive acoustic guitars are the backbone to Davenport's delicate melodies. Opener 'Chimes' sounds remarkably like fellow Bay Area popster brothers Richard & Thomas Frost (themselves ex-Mods who fronted fab '60s power poppers Powder and then went folk). Throughout Davenport weaves gentle fey tunes that although including Arthur Lee-esque sweeping changes sound completely modern. A friend who owns this album was somewhat negative about the contemporary production, far preferring the solo performance he witnessed in Barcelona, where he considered Davenport as an equal to Bert Jansch, but I can manage with the beats and synths and see the troubadour's 'Great Gatsby' point. However, certain electro segments to songs do ramble on and distract from the lovely melodies -- but for an ex-retroist breaking-out this is a successful effort and advised to lovers of 'new' and 'old' alike.
www.mushroompillow.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

BENNY GORDINI & THE TEEN'AXEL SOUL ARKESTRA 
Why Oh Why? (B-Soul; 45)
     This is the first release on Larsen records 'B-Soul' label, a soul offshoot with fetchingly bright orange company sleeves.
     In reality this is 'Oliveres and son'; Slow Slushy Boy Denis and his son Axel. They co-wrote this tune and young Axel plays the instruments whilst dad sings. The song is very similar to the current Slushy Boys sound, as it is a fine organ-dominated dance track which actually possesses the soul and personality completely lacking in modern chart R&B.
www.larsen.asso.fr/
Phil Suggitt

THE JTG IMPLOSION 
All the People Some Of The Time (Not Lame; CD)
     JTG is American Joe Giddings, who writes and plays just about everything on his debut disc. Sometimes he tries too hard, throwing too many of the classic power pop ingredients into the mix. This is particularly true of the rockier songs, which have too many effects and are spoilt by sludgy, inappropriate guitars that muddy the tunes. Similarly, gimmicky sound archive voices are only interesting once, but you never want to hear them again.
     Happily the album improves with some gentler and more melodic songs, such as 'Puzzle Peace', 'Wrong and The Dream'. Giddings sings well and provides his own harmonies. His best songs would not sound out of place on a Bronco Bullfrog album. However, some of the songs show promise but lack really memorable hooks or the kind of truly distinctive touches that his best work suggests he can develop.
www.notlame.com
Phil Suggitt

OF ARROWE HILL
The Spring Heel Penny Dreadful (Must Destroy; CD)
     This album serves to remind one just how superior a format vinyl is to compact discs. With vinyl, there was some room for fiddling with the 10 or 12 song long player format - runout grooves that provide the potential for the last bars of a song to carry on forever; double grooves that play one or another recording depending where the needle drops, little unexpected songs at the end of the record (e.g. 'Her Majesty'). But there weren't, thank goodness, this plague of 'hidden tracks' that pop up after a long period of silence to the surprise and delight of nobody. I mention them because Of Arrowe Hill include about five of these on their debut album. Why? What's the point? What's gained by breaking up the pace of the album like this? It doesn't sound innovative, it isn't cool and it provides for a really irritating listening experience. As Graham Chapman would say: stop that, it's silly! When there IS actually music playing, it's - to dredge up the old cliché - a curate's egg: good in parts. There's experimentation to pleasing effect with cut up and found sounds, like the introduction to 'I Are Becoming Instinct' (pastoral bird-song, church bells, the 'Sports Report' music) or the eerie echoing piano that closes 'The Push Button Deities'. In fact, intros and outros are the band's strong point because they don't drown them in the guitar and vocal treatments that swamp the rest of their songs. There are some good melodic touches and what sound like interesting lyrics hiding underneath, but they've been overwhelmed by the production. The press release throws around a myriad comparisons (most of which are completely erroneous...Rolling Stones? Black Sabbath? Crass? Errr...no) but miss out the most glaringly obvious: Oasis (the singer is akin to a Liverpudlian Liam Gallagher) and early Boo Radleys. Sir Jon Mills assures me they also sound like Guided By Voices. There are lots of songs that cut between fast sections/slow sections and noisy sections/acoustic sections, very reminiscent of the shoegazing bands of the early 1990s. Best bits are the Floydian 'Dry-Eyed Ballad Of A Fink' and 'Grandmother's Steps', plus the 3rd (unnamed) secret track; no coincidence that they're pretty much the only straightforwardly played songs. Chaps: tunes are good, no need to hide them!
www.mustdestroymusic.com
Betty Chienne

OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY
Supernatural Equinox (Rainbow Quartz; CD)
     Whatever redeeming factors there are to Outrageous Cherry's music are obliterated by boring vocals and the relentless drone aspect which died with The Darkside and Spectrum Zero and has now once again risen with The Warlocks!!!! This style of playing detracts so much from what melody there is. The WCPAEB managed to pull it off, but the '80s indie drone rock angle has ruined everything good about whatever '60s melodies are being reinvented. In respect of Outrageous Cherry this is a great shame: 'Song For Someone Sometimes' and 'If You Want Me' achieves pleasant pop status in a Mary Chain way, 'This Evening' is almost Brit Kaleidoscope-like, but whatever is trying to be gained with an acoustic guitar playing the 'No Fun' riff is beyond me. This is no worse than so much else these days, but it is a disappointment that a band that do seem to have some hidden talent strive to sound like Spiritualised ('See Through Everything' even sounds like a third-rate Oasis cast-off) which is a shame as they could be so much more. Haven't they yet realised that treated guitars and smack-chic vocals are just plain boring -- and dated! Yes dated!
www.rainbowquartz.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE PINKER TONES
Pink Connection (Wah Wah; specially packaged CD and LP)
     Highly kitsch and a little annoying, The Pinker Tones mine the same filed as Ursula1000 and The Pizzicato Five (both whom contribute mixes to this Barcelona duo's album) yet miss Germans The Frank Popp Ensemble's more solid aspects of retro-chic. Sure, they can play their instruments and some of the numbers do get into a kinda groove, with fine fuzz guitars, funky bass lines, sitars and everything from Bossa-Bacharrach to spy au-go-go influences, but the overt use of novelty aspects that aren't-that-funny, tired spoken word samples and Europop electro beats let things down. 
wahwahsounds@teraa.se
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

SHUTDOWN 66
Welcome To Dumpsville (Get Hip; CD)
     Coming across like a tougher Tell Tale Hearts in full Pretty Things mode with a dash of garage-trash--er-ama Ozzies Shutdown 66 (fronted by Corduroy records head honcho and Breadmakers' bassist Nick Phillips) certainly have tons of energy and Missing Links' beat-punk savvy. Actually London's early '90s marraca shakers The Beatpack spring to mind the most on CD opener 'Late Night Shutdown' and 'Kellie's Turn To Cry'. Not everything's great though: Nick over does the 'awwighhhhtts' and screams, and melodies at time are lacking ('Pleasantville' sounds uncannily like current (!) garage-psychsters The Golden Dawn). On the other hand, '(Losing) Traction' sees the guys move into '70s punk, and they pull it off really well with a trashy abandon and Ron Asheton guitar riffs.
     Mind you considering these punky pranks are a side project to The Breadmakers and these recordings were made on the band's vintage recording equipment in next to no time at all (a few having been released as limited edition singles) this album holds together surprisingly well. 
     The current word in psychotic Oz beat punk!
www.gethip.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE SLOW SLUSHY BOYS
Shotgun Boo-ga-loo (Soundflat; 45)
     The first 45 from Germany's cool Soundflat mail order outfit is a real dance floor mover from France's Slow Slushy Boys. The cover photo shows a room full of gyrating dancers, which will be the likely result of spinning this toe-tapper. As usual the (Hammond?) organ is to the fore, this time with a brass section.
http://www.soundflat.de/shop/shop.cfm
Phil Suggitt

THE SPECTORS
Beat Is Murder: Cockfights & Cakefights 1992-1996 (Get Hip; CD)
     The Spectors must have been a really impressive band to see live. Fun, tough and confidant -- just like all of the best R&R bands. We've been behind Spectors' bassist Keith Patterson's latest musical endeavour The Conquerors at Shindig! HQ since US contributor Howlin' Andy Hound (friend of the band and fellow twin cities resident) turned us onto them in '96. So it will come as no shock to discover how much this set of recordings that his previous band The Spectors made between '92 and '96 has impressed us. The seal of Patterson is evident, but he's not the only shining light, the other six members all excel in what they do. Seven quality (but wyld) players and up to four guys battling for the mic! Musically these recordings are a heady brew of '60s beat, garage and psych with a soulful edge and the anger and urgency of late '70s punk. It's not recreationalist purism by any means. If this material was released today by a new band it'd definitely impress the big labels, but like all things '90s garage, the musical climate wasn't ready for real R&R music -- the aftermath of the '80s was still visible!!!! A little like Mike Stax's The Hoods (coincidentally The Spectors do a rousing version of The Hoods' 'Keep On Lying' to reinforce the band's tutelage) the band owes everything to the '60s but escaped the puerile fuzz 'n' farfisa route that most of the new 'garage' bands were adapting -- again an indication of the '80s aftermath: remember The Fuzztones were still Gods! Covers are taken from such diverse acts as The Monks, The Nashville Ramblers, Fire, The Undertakers and the ENTIRE Thor's Hammer EP proving that this collective had taste!!! The originals are incredible too. 'That Girl Is Leaving Town', 'Her Best Friend' and 'When The Girl Of My Dreams' all show the band in a melodic beat mode; 'In My Grave' has a soul period Little Richard vibe whilst 'Rhubarb Ruby' goes all '67 psych (with a hint of Plasticland '80sdom). 'If You Don't Mind' pushes the fold into a far more contemporary punk field proving that these guys didn't keep all of their eggs in one basket!
     The Spectors never gained much attention outside of the Midwest (and Iceland!!) but this collection will lay all of that in bed. These guys will be admired, believe me! I can see no way that any SDer will find fault with this material. It's crafted and captures the essence of thee music!
     The Spectors weren't bowl cut wearing Seeds wannabes... they were a real band with real songs, real energy and genuine ability!!! A superb discovery!
www.gethip.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE STOMACHMOUTHS
Born Losers (Subliminal Sounds; CD)
     Reading Patrick 'The Lama' Lundborg's lengthy notes contextualises the early '80s Swedish garage scene... and at that, the '80s garage scene worldwide. This was a very different era than now. No one talked of '60s garage, the NME didn't use the term and any band that played loud guitar based music wasn't pigeon-holed as a 'garage band'. The crap form of extreme dance music using the 'garage' moniker was also light years away. When The Stomachmouths hit the stage in their '60s threads, armed with old gear and an attitude-that-died-with-punk, people were genuinely shocked. In Sweden it was a new phenomenon: an antidote to New Romanticism and drum machines.
     History aside, The Stomachmouths really had something. Even if they were active in the '60s they would have stood proudly alongside the greats! Stefan and crew loved the music and whether playing surf instros, Seeds-like psych, Dutch styled R&B or throat shredding garage-punk it all sounded genuine and as if the band could have invented the genres. Going against the grain they did. And their primal fuzzed out music is the perfect soundtrack for nonchalant teens obsessed by sex, cheap booze and partying -- in any era! This kinda PUNK is timeless. Hearing new bands attempt this energy level and approaching the subject from a post-punk or Stooges' angle makes me laugh... Swedish '60s punk ended in '87 with The Stomachmouths, seemed like it was reborn with The Strollers in the '90s and then died again. The Hives gaining fame from a Billy Childish/Iggy Pop hybrid is nothing to do with the US '60s punk The Stomachmouths played. The Hives are contrived! The Stomachmouths sound real! I just hope that what with Sweden being viewed as the epicentre of cool garage punk in 2003 that eager music buying, trend following 'kids' will investigate this Stomachmouths CD and hear how it should really be done!
     This 25 track compilation drawing on singles, demos and album track from The Stomachmouths' '84-'87 career is a fitting testament to a band who even in the mid-80s didn't fit in with other garage bands (Stefan always looked more like a BFTG bespectacled nerd garage-teen than John Kay from Steppenwolf -- which oddly became the BIG look with garage bands!) As far as fuzzed-out '80s teen-punk angst goes it just doesn't get any better than this. 
http://members.chello.se/subliminalsounds
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE TELEPATHIC BUTTERFLIES
Introducing... (Rainbow Quartz; CD)
     When Colin 'Mohair Sweets' Bryce sent me a copy of The Telepathic Butterflies album sometime last year I skimmed through it and dismissed it without properly listening. Maybe I had too much to review or was in a particularly '60s purist' mood. Silly really. Luckily Rainbow Quartz have expanded the original album and I've given it a second chance and have ended up really liking it. The TPs may adore '60s psych music and do wear those influences on their sleeves, yet are most certainly not slavish recreationalists. Like Oasis, or more so Cotton Mather, the TPs contemporary way of playing has touches of everyone from The Rain Parade to Ride, XTC, Teenage Fanclub, Guided By Voices and the Elephant Six roster. At times guitars chang and are far more forceful and dissonant than The Beatles' Abbey Road productions ever were, but nestling underneath the indie home production top soil are songs that maintain the same exuberance as primetime Syd, Lennon and Chilton. 'A Final Word' rides on a Macca bass line with an ever changing vocal melody and Cotton Mather-like guitar patterns, 'Mr Laughabee's Circus' and 'Elixir' are wonderful examples of the '67 era Brit psych sound, 'Sunshine Radio' could be The Shazam without the Marshall stacks, 'Urban Meanderings' features a Syd-like verse and anthemic token Oasis chant along chorus and 'California Bent' has an apt West Coast leaning heard in the guitar introduction whilst sole cover Donovan's 'Epistle To Dippy' gets a fine treatment.
     If Of Arrowe Hill are fooling the UK press, people intrigued by said band's contemporary psych journo build up should really hear The Telepathic Butterflies unpretentious take on the genre. Rainbow Quartz's finest alongside Cotton Mather, Rock Four and Shazam. Highly recommended.
www.rainbowquartz.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

TEN BENSON 
Danger Of Deaf (Must Destroy; CD)
     Dirty men! Dirty, dirty men! Dressed like serial killing truckers! Playing lovely, delicious, mantrically riffin' rock! What MORE could a music lovin' gal want? Absolutely nothing, especially if her bag is AC/DC with Sexton Ming on vocals, and a cheap keyboard tinkling away at opportune moments. This new album by the ever-lovin' Benson consists of re-recordings of a bunch of songs from their previous records 'Hiss' and 'Satan Kidney Pie' (best album title ever, surely?) and much as one would have thought the originals were too perfect to be bettered, in some cases they've actually managed it! Revamped versions of meisterworks like 'The Loozin' Line', 'Robot Tourist' and 'Tits' are speedier and far heavier on the high end than previous renditions, pre-dating the recent acquisition of a bassist. Apparently they were pretty much recorded live, which brings the newtracks admirably closer to the raw power of the band onstage. So you can almost smell the sweat staining their string vests...and that's a GOOD THING, believe you me.
www.mustdestroymusic.com
Jane Farrell

THE THANES
Downbeat and Folked Up (Screaming Apple; LP/CD)
     A Thanes' record is always an event! Garage bands come and garage bands go, but the Thanes play on. This record is available on CD and LP, but I went for the LP; somehow a Thanes' CD seems kinda wrong.
     This is a great record apart from the corny and slightly misleading title. There is a definite focus on melodic folk-rock, but there are still some meaty beaty tunes in typical Thanes style. Unlike many of the 'new garage punk' bands, the Thanes understand the need for variety, light and shade. Lead Thane Lenny Helsing has always loved the Dutch 60's sound, so it is no surprise that there is a great, faithful cover of the Sandy Coast's 'I'm a Fool', which appeared on Distortion records superb comp. The band have gone for the sound epitomised
     Side one contains some superb jangly covers, including the aforementioned 'I'm A Fool' and The Beau Brummels' 'Don't Talk to Strangers' Despite an impassioned Helsing vocal, the much-covered 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue' doesn't work quite as well.
     The LP is notable for the increased contribution of keyboardist Angus McPake. Of the eight original songs, McPake contributes six to Helsings' two. McPakes' best songs sit comfortably with the best of the six covers. Side two kicks off to a great start with the great 'World of Stone' and Lenny's 'Put The Hurt On You'. The original tunes on side two and 'Come What May' on side one prove that McPake can write fine folk-rock numbers that have as much heart and soul as the original 60's creations.
www.screaming-apple.de 
Phil Suggitt
The Editor Speaks: As with the new Fading Yellow comps last month I couldn't let this review go on-line without me adding my tuppence worth. As you all probably know I adore The Thanes, and this latest release is the best yet. I have no problem with the title, okay it's not '60s purist, but it's kinda funny and proof that The Thanes reason to make music is because they love it, not because they wanna be thought of as cool and hip. Obviously the title's pun refers to the moody beat ballads and folk-rock angle that Lenny, Angus and co undertake on this platter. More originals would have been nice, but then again the chosen covers sit comfortably here, and the band's take on 'Baby Blue' that follows the Them/Watchband arrangement is wonderful. In a nutshell this is a brilliant effotr! I won't go into my usual 'modern garage band' rant as you know it by now. But this is the real deal!
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

BOBBY SUTLIFF 
Perfect Dream (Not Lame; CD)
     Bobby Sutliff has quietly produced some great tunes over the years. In the eighties he was one half of The Windbreakers with Tim Lee. Bobby and Tim both played guitar, sang and contributed tunes to a whole batch of albums. The duo went their separate ways in the early 90's, although the inclusion of a Lee song, 'Kiss Me Goodbye' on this album is a testament to their continued friendship and sporadic partnership.
     Bobby Sutliff has only to pick up a guitar and it chimes and gently jangles. This is the essence of his music, wistful, mid - paced, Byrdsian and subtly melodic. Bobby's songs are never in-your-face pop, and they don't rely on massive choruses and dramatic production. These are his strengths. His songs are not meant to sweep you off your feet, but to gently wrap their arms around you. He plays all the instruments this time. I'm not sure about a perfect dream, songs like 'Mando' and 'Long Red Bottle of Wine' are perfect music for a perfect summers day.
www.notlame.com
Phil Suggitt

PRESTON WAYNE FOUR
Themes From Wayne Manor (Dino; CD)
     Preston is a throwback to Boston's punk 'n' roll 1970s scene (Hooker, DMZ) and has returned as a slightly more mature loud and controlled Link Wray-styled axe wielding maniac. He looks the part and makes a nice punked-up sound that gives the younger kids on the block (MOAM, Huevos Rancheros) a darn good run for their money. Fans of oiled-up rock look no further.
www.dinorecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

YOU AM I
No, After You Sir: An Introduction To You Am I (Transcopic/BMG; CD)
     After having spent the last ten years as the best kept rock 'n' roll secret in the Southern hemisphere, You Am I's star has recently risen thanks to (or in spite of) repeated name checking from the current crop of Antipodean punk pretenders and patronage from the likes of Noel and Liam 'kiss of death' Gallagher. Their recent headlining London shows sold out immediately with the devoted Aussi contingent showing up in force to welcome their heroes after years of UK-free tour itineraries.
     Therefore No, After You Sir, as it's sub-title claims, is a shrewdly timed broad swipe through their back catalogue, plainly aimed at those who've picked up on the name but haven't yet heard the music. As such, it works - as a 'best of' for the initiated, it doesn't.
     The track selection spans the five albums released between 1995 to 2001 during which time they arguably hit their creative peak with 1996's defining Hourly Daily. Tim Rogers' lyrics scaled new heights of poetry and righteousness, the three-piece band were jaw-droppingly tight musicians and the songs were generally 3-minute pop creations that recalled the best of The Who, Big Star and all your other favourite acts of the previous 30 years. The lazy southern-fried rock of last year's Deliverance seems like the work of a different band by comparison.
     Rollicking YAI classics 'Minor Byrd', 'The Applecross Wing Commander', 'Good Mornin'', 'Soldiers' and 'Junk' (though not 'Rumble', strangely) are all present and correct and if the inclusion of 'Cathy's Clown', 'Wally Raffles' and 'Billy' at the expense of 'Purple Sneakers', 'Tuesday' and 'What I Don't Know About You' paints a suspiciously garage-centric picture, you've got the exquisite acoustic ballads 'Handwasher', 'Hourly Daily' and 'Heavy Heart' to show the band's softer, more delicate side.
     In terms of rarities, the single version of 'Mr Milk' is the only offering with other non-album singles 'Trike', 'Opportunities' and 'When You Got Dry' noticeable by their absence. The first official Australian 'best of' is due later this year and I can only hope a little more thought goes into the track selection.
     Tim Rogers contributes a brief flashback-style history of the band's adventures including a reference to 'Leicester the night Lady Di got it'. I remember the night well. My band was supporting them. 
     We never got over it. 
www.transcopic.com
Andy Morten