To catch up with the storyline of the mid-80s UK indie scene, let me remind you that 1985 was the year that saw the release of one of the most influential albums of that decade, "
Psychocandy" by the
Jesus And Mary Chain.
Creation Records,
Alan McGee's company that was responsible for unleashing
J.A.M.C. to the unsuspecting pop world, was releasing some of the singles that wrote the '80s indie-pop history book, songs like "
Up the hill and down the slope" by
The Loft,
"
I'm alright with you" by
The Pastels or
Primal Scream's debut 7"
"
All fall down", while in Leeds a new band going by the name of
The Wedding Present was making its presence felt with first single
"
Go out and get 'em boy!". All this was happening while the limelight was on
The Smiths who were at the pinnacle of their career.
As you can understand, this burgeoning independent music scene was the joy of the British music press, and in 1986
N.M.E. decided to release the infamous
C86 cassette compilation featuring some of the most promising new groups of the era. Next to
Primal Scream and
Wedding Present who found wider fame soon enough (coincidentally the bands opening and closing this compilation) we find groups like
The Pastels,
The Shop Assistants,
The Mighty Lemon Drops,
The Soup Dragons,
Age Of Chance,
Half Man Half Biscuit,
McCarthy (where
Tim Gane got his start before forming
Stereolab) or
Close Lobsters that although never enjoyed the same level of success, their value is evident by the influence they had on the groups that started making waves shortly after (the late ’80s - early ’90s
"
shoegazers") as well as on those of the current generation.
Add to all this the fact that
My Bloody Valentine were also taking their first steps in the same period, a band that basically created its own school with many followers even in today’s music scene (
School Of Seven Bells,
Asobi Seksu,
Howling Bells to name but a few) and you can easily understand why
1986 is the
new 1966 or
1976, namely the new cool year from the past ripe for plundering (as you can also read in
this Guardian article about
Crystal Stilts).
For further evidence of the ’80s influence on the new hot names of 2009 (and for your musical enjoyment of course) here’s a vintage 1987 video from The Pastels for the single "Crawl babies" (from their excellent debut "Up for a bit with The Pastels") and two from a couple of New York’s finest new bands, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Crystal Stilts. It’s "Everything with you" from the former’s 2009 self-titled debut and "Departure" from the latter’s 2008 debut "Alight Of Night":
Today is the official release date of Metric's fourth album "Fantasies", an excellent work that takes the dynamic rock direction of previous album "Live It Out" to the next level. While the album is not lacking in more mellow ("Twilight Galaxy", "Collect Call") or pure pop ("Gimme Sympathy") moments, for the most part it boasts a big, explosive sound dominated by James Shaw's fierce guitar playing and Joules Scott-Key's and Joshua Winstead's propelling rhythms. But, as usual, the most important ingredient that elevates Metric to a class of its own is the sensual voice and fiery performance of Emily Haines, who returns renewed after a brief stay in Buenos Aires in search of songwriting inspiration. Almost half the tracks on the disc are among the best moments of the band's career: "Help I'm Alive", "Sick Muse", "Front Row" and the epic finale of "Stadium Love". Visit the band's site to preview/purchase the album, take a look at a brief overview of the Metric story here and enjoy the video for second single "Gimme Sympathy" below:
