SINGLES A-C

Here are all the singles I own from A-C in the alphabet and a few words on each.

ABBA, 'The Name of the Game' b/w 'I Wonder (Departure)'
ABBA, 'Dancing Queen' b/w 'That's Me'
ABBA, 'I Have A Dream' b/w 'Take A Chance On Me'
ABBA, 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' b/w 'Happy Hawaii'
ABBA, 'Take A Chance on Me' b/w 'I'm A Marionette'
ABBA, 'SOS' b/w 'Man In The Middle'

My mum owned a lot of ABBA singles (I suspect these are not all the ones she had) and passed them on to me when CDs came to our home town (mid-2000s). At the time I kind of hated the group in all their Eurokitsch and simply thought I might be able to turn a profit on them one day. Now I just like them and they remind me that my mum had a life prior to motherhood. 

 

Is there much to be said about the A-sides here? I don't think there is. The flip-sides are all pretty good too. 'I Wonder' is a nice heart-stung ballad for playing on a lonely New Year's Eve in a musical. 'That's Me' would have been a great single for a less-good band. 'Happy Hawaii' suggests novelty and nearly hits it (the lyrics are throwaway) but they put too much effort in to lapse into the truly redundant. 'I'm A Marionette' must be in their weirdest five moments - a caustic rant about being stuck in the industry with an operatic/metal/prog chorus. I suppose 'Man in the Middle' is pretty rotten - Bjorn sings over lame funk that they just don't get.

Still, 10 out of 11 good to great songs ('Take A Chance on Me' appears twice).

ABC, 'The Look of Love Pt. 1' b/w 'The Look of Love Pt. 2'

Sheffield sophisto-pop group covered in the album reviews earlier in April. On The Lexicon of Love there's a Look of Love 1 and 4, but not 2 (or 3, which apparently made the 12"). Part one is the single that everyone knows and loves if they're sound of mind; Fairlight tight funk with disco strings and charismatic vocal. Part two, as it turns out, is instrumental. Part three has no strings! Meh.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, 'Mistakes and Regrets' b/w 'Half of What'

Unashamedly was a big fan of this hairy Texas (by way of Nuneaton, weirdly) lot. I am in the video for 'Another Morning Stoner' (0.25 of a second, in a crowd). Unreal live, completely turbo-charged and wild-eyed, but layered and intelligent on record. The A-side is their breakthrough hit from their second record with very subtle Eastern influence (verses are basically a pedal note/raga) and dynamic changes. B-side is a re-recording of one off their hit-and-miss debut and I prefer the original.

Anxiety, Wild Life EP

Four song swansong over six minutes: 'Pegasus (I Feel Nothing)' is a grotty noise-rock ripper with sawing seasick bass. 'Pay Pigs' sounds like hardcore fallen down a sewer and trying to scream its way back to the pavement. 'Dumped' uses a great sample from Craig Charles before blasting into a surfy-hardcore jam. Final cut 'Lizard Lads Under a Rock' drives down the road I hoped they were going before breaking up - mid-period Flux of Pink Indians angry noise psychedelia glued to relentless rhythms that might be danceable in a parallel universe. Quite liked this actually.

Autoclave, Go Far EP

Mary Timony's band before the deranged medieval stylings of Helium sounds comparitively ordinary, but there's lots of little mathy changes and deliberate charges up blind alleys. The title track is great left-field math pop. 'It's Not Real Life' is full of jabbing tension and seems to pre-empt both Helium and Slant 6 (Christina's next band). 'I'll Take You Down' was probably Autoclave's most radio-friendly moment and plants the DNA for Breeders and Sleater-Kinney (especially the chiming guitars and vocals that seem to lock sideways). Fun record, might have to dig up the full-length from somewhere.

Barringtone, 'Snake in the Grass' b/w 'Salad of Despair'

Barry Dobbin was frontman for touted 00s group Clor. They never really hit despite being far better than a lot of their rivals in the disco-friendly indie music world. Internal tension between being 'weird' and 'pop' was apparently never resolved. Clearly Barry inherited the weird: the A-side could be Clor gone prog in a Laser Quest. B-side sounds like someone thrashing Devo at Bubble Bobble. Enjoyable. Wonder why it took 12 years to follow this up with an album.

B52s, 'Rock Lobster' b/w 'Running Around'

One of the best singles ever made with an instrumental version of a future banger from LP2 on the flip. Essential.

Blood Brothers, 'Set Fire To The Face on Fire' b/w 'Laser Life (Nick Zinner Remix)' and 'Nausea Shreds Yr Head (Gajamagic Remix)'

At the time it didn't feel like the single to break the Brothers Blood to the next level, as it were, though thinking about Young Machetes I suppose it didn't have anything like that on it. This performance on The Henry Rollins Show is pretty cool, though I think Morgan (on the white Jazzmaster) had given up playing the songs properly by this time:

Two remixes on the B-side: Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs basically re-orders album track 'Laser Life' and re-emphasises the dynamics in the song less successfully than the band did. Drummer Mark Gadjahar turns album cut 'Nausea Shreds Yr Head' from a hardcore ripper into autumnal minimal jam like Cylob or something. It's okay if a little incongruous. Does a good job of showing the rhythmic qualities of the voices.

Boomtown Rats, 'I Don't Like Mondays' b/w 'It's All The Rage'

Grading this as poor for sale - sleeve is in tatters. Not a huge fan of the A-side but surprised at the compact energy in the B-side which bounces along like a way less annoying Elvis Costello.

Blumfeld, 'Draußen auf Kaution' b/w 'Jet Set'

One of the purveyors of 'The Hamburg Sound' that was applied to this lot and Die Sterne in the 90s. Didn't quite take off internationally (the two bands sound unalike) but a good German language indie-rock band. This sounds like something that Built to Spill would do later, all chimy guitars and slightly unusual rhythms and rises and falls. B-side is more like Polvo, crushed chords and half-spat choruses. Good 7". 

David Bowie, 'Starman' b/w 'Suffragette City'
David Bowie, 'Golden Years' b/w 'Can You Hear Me?'

Another lot my mum owned. All fairly famous except 'Can You Hear Me?', from the Young Americans album, which means it is smooth R&B sung with a slight insincere affect. Very good all told.

Broadcast, 'Echo's Answer' b/w 'Test Area'

A perfect example of how to use the 7" format. The A-side is a tight, sparse, and disciplined piece with a really unique atmosphere: like a 60s chanteuse trapped near the cooling ponds of a nuclear site. The B-side takes that atmosphere and expands and darkens it, pushing it into new shapes with some incredible drumming into the mix.

Buggles, 'Video Killed The Radio Star' b/w 'Kid Dynamo'

Very famous A-side that doubtless you have an opinion on (I like it). The B-side is very good, chiefly because Trevor Horn is a very good songwriter and producer. It sounds more like other bands (Sparks, Split Enz) rather than the A-side, which is a fairly unique slice of pop history.  

Bullet Union, 'Stay Indie, Don't Be a Hater' b/w 'Robin...I'll Be Back In Five Minutes'

Not played this since 2003 when I saw them open for Q & Not U in Manchester. Definitely fits in with that world of shouty post-hardcore like City of Caterpillar and Unwound. There's a slightly cheekier and fun element at the edges. May bands like this and This Et Al and Unit Ama never die.

The Cars, 'Just What I Needed' b/w 'I'm In Touch With Your World'

Picture disc that I always hoped was worth a lot. It isn't worth shit. One of those bands that I've generally been aware of but never quite listened to except for their very famous hits. I can see why Weezer went to Ric Ocasek for their first album now: it sounds like 'Just What I Needed' with extra wounded nerd. B-side sounds like it was written in the, err, car on the way to the studio.

Catatonia, 'I Am The Mob' b/w 'Jump or Be Sane'
Catatonia, 'Sweet Catatonia' b/w 'Tourist'

Given to me by my pal Jude as he had a clearout. I quite like the lyric 'I put horses in heads in peoples' beds / 'cos I am the mob' but apart from that I really hate all of this. C-tier Britpop. Cerys Matthews had a really unusual voice but I reckon you should check her solo album out as it's in a genre she actually gave a shit about.

Chuck, 'No, Not Ah!' b/w 'Wetsuit' and 'Do The Math(ematics)'
Chuck, 'We Got Squeezed (Inside Their Machines)' b/w 'Um Na Nagay'

Sheffield group playing heavy surf rock. I was tour managing a surf-pop group at the time and it is credit to their maturity that they didn't see Chuck as rivals but kindred spirits. 'No, Not Ah!' is surf rock with choruses by the Soviet Choir. 'Wetsuit' is more like a Man or Astroman? song with funny vocals. The other disc is much better - 'We Got Squeezed' is hooky pop that drops some of the surf and replaces it with earnest rock and synth wig outs, while 'Um Na Nagay' sounds like surf-klezmer (pretty sure it is a bastardisation of 'Hava Nagila' in parts).

Circus Lupus / Trenchmouth, 'Heathen' b/w 'Sea of Serenity (Swing Version)'

Dischord band Circus Lupus drop a song that appeared on second album Solid Brass that is very in-keeping with their aesthetic: snotty, almost-English vocals, feeling like there's a guitarist short, sneery. It's a cover of a British band I don't know called The Pack. Trenchmouth have become latterly famous for being Fred Armisen's early band, but really they were Damon Locks' band - a great, commanding frontman. Their side of the record kicks far more ass and sounds like Nation of Ulysses with a conga. Admittedly that sounds bad and this does not.

Clinic, 'The Second Line' b/w 'Magic Boots' and 'Dr. G'
Clinic, 'If You Could Read Your Mind' b/w 'Dissolution: The Dream of Bartholomew'

I guess I was a Clinic fan, as it goes. 'The Second Line' is the one that broke them and they never repeated: it helped that it was in a jeans advert when the music from jeans adverts was a thing people talked about. Nice woozy bass-led piece with very 2000 production (returning to organics, but still a bit of a nascent digital thrust). 'Magic Boots' is Monks-style garage punk with yelping vocals and 'Dr. G' is one of Clinic's range of melodica-led genre visits. Sketch-like. Six years later we get 'If You Could Read Your Mind', which I adore: insistent and warped mid-tempo with Cramps-y guitar that feels like a waking dream. B-side sounds like Butthole Surfers tuning up.

Corinthians / Cowtown, 'Untitled' and 'I Thought You Liked Music' b/w 'Surf Time' and 'Ice Cream Beard'

Cowtown of Leeds, quite miraculously, are still going (this record is from 2005). They've always been a lot of fun live, but I am sure two of them are a couple and one of them was in a much more famous band (although their brief moment in the sun was shattered by indiscretions and allegations). Their side of the record is two throwaway instrumentals and their better material is to be found elsewhere.

Corinthians, of Wigan, St. Helens, and Leigh, are not still going. I know this to be a fact as I was the guitarist and singer in said band. Any accusations that the two songs here are rip-offs can only be answered by me ('Untitled' is kind of like 'Pleasure and Privilege' by Enon, the middle of 'I Thought You Liked Music' is an evolution of Ex-Models' cover of 'She Blinded Me With Science'). 

 
We were together 18 months and played about 50 shows. We split because the drummer had sex with my ex (though we were very much an on-off thing and also I was a sore and sour 20 something) and I made a stand that I suppose I regret, except Thom (bass, vocals) went on to make great records in other outfits and Adam (drums) went on to bigger things and I really love the band I formed afterward so maybe all worked out?

I still like both songs though I guess the lyrics reflect the kind of sneery prick I was at the time. Loads of energy, we could really play the shit out of everything (live was just as tight, but 30% faster, but sometimes out of tune), and while a lot of our contemporaries were skronking their way into self-indulgence, I was always pleased with our way with a tune.