Following on logically from their own Popscene: From Baggy To Britpop 1989-1994, Cherry Red have pulled together another bumper 4CD selection of indie pop classics covering the years just after Suede, Pulp, Blur and Oasis lit the Britpop touchpaper. It was a great time to be a music fan – every Monday seemed to make available another assortment of 99p 7” singles, and going to see these artists didn’t require a mortgage to pay for the ticket. And as a keen partaker in such practices, this exquisite set provides a blast of nostalgia and an array of records that I missed at the time – and above all provides a fascinating glimpse into the period.
Elastica’s controversial gem ‘Waking Up’, (they were sued by The Stranglers for its similarity to their ‘No More Heroes’), is a perfect way to start proceedings, a Top 20 hit from the very start of the period covered and an excellent example of their tuneful post-punk sound. Although the set doesn’t run in perfect chronological order, the discs do tend to gather material from the same period, and as if to prove it, Ash’s wonderful ‘Kung Fu’, is here – the fuzz-pop tune that sent them into the big league after a couple of well-received indie singles – NME making it their Single Of The Week and propelling the band to chart stardom with their following singles. Paul Weller was a veteran of the scene even 31 years ago, ‘The Changingman’ seemingly one of those songs that even people who aren’t so keen on his solo work seem to enjoy. There’s so much quality even just on CD1 that space doesn’t allow everything to be mentioned, but McAlmont & Butler’s ‘Yes’ takes some beating, a soaring anthem that was an instant classic. Props to Cherry Red to for eschewing ‘Wake Up Boo!’ in favour of The Boo Radleys’ lesser-heard psychedelic follow-up ‘Find The Answer Within’, one of their many fantastic singles that tends to get overlooked because of that morning radio classic! In the same way, we get Pulp’s ‘Mis-Shapes’ over ‘Common People’ – a track that seems to have had a re-birth recently, being included in the reformed band’s sets after they had seemingly disowned it in the past. One of the mysteries of the era was the failure of the wonderful Salad to achieve a single Top 40 hit – the choice of ‘Drink The Elixir’ is absolutely the right one, the driving, angular yet instantly memorable track incredibly stalled at Number 66, though its attendant album, Drink Me, did at least break them into the Top 20. And it’s always great to see The Wannadies – actually they do appear with their best-known track ‘You and Me Song’, and Menswe@r, unfairly dismissed by some at the time as style-over-substance, but ‘Sleeping In’ is one of a slew of great singles by the band. CD1 ranges from the globally huge Radiohead (they supply ‘Fake Plastic Trees’), to the rather less famous The Aardvarks and their perfectly decent Modern Life-era Blur flavoured ‘Bargain Day’. Also, a mention for the more-synthpop-than-Britpop ‘Not So Manic Now’ from Dubstar, one of those songs that people generally don’t realise is a cover (of a track by the little-known Brick Supply).
CD2 has everything from Supergrass’ fairground organ-driven ‘Going Out’ to Black Grape’s snarling ‘Kelly’s Heroes’, and Ocean Colour Scene’s ubiquitous 1996 TFI Friday theme tune hit ‘Riverboat Song’, which totally reinvented their sound from the baggy indie-pop of their eponymous debut to a riff-heavy ‘60s rock sound. They never looked back. Delta’s ‘Make It Right’ is a smart inclusion, another band adding more grit to their sound from when they were (mostly) The Sea Urchins. The Auteurs’ ‘Light Aircraft On Fire’ is one of Luke Haines’ absolute finest barbed gems, while one of the greatest tracks here is The High Llamas’ Pet Sounds-sounding ‘Checking In, Checking Out’, which incredibly climbed no higher than Number 96 in an era when some of these bands were having regular Top 20 hits. Electronic’s ‘Forbidden City’ is as fabulous as you might expect from two members of The Smiths and New Order. The not-so-well known contingent here includes Mantaray and Jocasta, whose sounds weren’t a million miles from those Gallagher brothers – not to say that their inclusions here, ‘I Don’t Make Promises’ and ‘Go’ (respectively) aren’t worth their place in the set, as both are good singles.
CD3 is probably the most varied of the four discs, with everything from Primal Scream’s very un-Britpop seven-minute ‘Burning Wheel’ to Corduroy’s ‘The Joker Is Wild’, which sounds like a smoother James Dean Bradfield singing The Beatles ‘Norwegian Wood’ with the drums to ‘Taxman’ substituted. Elsewhere is the actual Number 1 ‘Your Woman’ by White Town, propelled to the top spot by Mark and Lard on Radio 1. The sadly-missed Terry Hall is here with a faithful reading of Todd Rundgren’s ‘I Saw The Light’, a lovely track from an oddly overlooked period in his career. Sussed might be the least-known band here, but I have a soft spot for them and bought their singles at the time, including this one, ‘One In A Million’, which in another dimension was no doubt a Britpop smash.
CD4 starts with Embrace and this collection’s title track, a stirring anthem that came out first on star-maker indie Fierce Panda, before becoming a hit when re-released. Echo & The Bunnymen’s ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ was a lovely surprise at the time, the band returning after a 10-year hiatus with huge success. Puressence have just announced their return with a huge home-town show in Manchester and ‘This Feeling’ is as good an indication as any to the uninitiated as to what the band are about – emotional and brilliant songs. The Clint Boon Experience’s ‘White No Sugar’ will be in your head forever once heard, due to its maker’s legendary swirling Hammond hooks married to an irresistible tune and Gay Dad, while dismissed at the time, are now enjoying something of a critical re-evaluation; ‘To Earth With Love’ is dramatic and brilliant, and it always was! It’s great to see The Fall included with their excellent cover of obscure 1959 Tommy Blake song ‘F-oldin’ Money’ and to finish the set with Toploader just a couple of songs later, if nothing else underlines the range of material here. Elsewhere on CD4, a real lost classic in These Animal Men’s ‘Light Emitting Electrical Wave’ – it’s a glam stomper quite unlike anything else here. Also, Mojave 3, featuring three members of Slowdive have probably their most commercial track ‘Some Kinda Angel’ here – it’s a great introduction to the band who made some excellent records for 4AD along the way.
This is an extremely extensive and varied collection with very well-written sleeve notes giving the month and year of each release and a surprising amount of information about each track – to have written this review and not even mentioned Ultrasound, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Doves, James, Kenickie or Lush shows the wealth of content here. There are familiar classics, well-chosen lesser-known cuts and a handful of curveballs here. So…when do we get the 2000-2004 set? Bring it on!