Britpop Byrdisised
John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 11/22/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Rev-Ola, a solid label purveying well-crafted, Anglophilic pop, in its blurb above sums up well this Kent quartet's influences. It's perfectly fine, but not more than that. Fans of The Smiths, Robyn Hitchcock, the La's, and perhaps of the later period of The Jam, will like these songs. But they do not leap out at you as they should have done. Lacking the idiosyncratic but memorable stylings of a Paul Weller or Morrissey vocal, these tunes remain politer but more pedestrian in their arrangments, which cry out for Roy Wood of the Move to elaborate. I think they can hear in their heads more of sonic variety that a small budget and a first album may have thwarted.
This band knows its 60s forebears, and the title is a marvelous quote from the announcer signalling the end of the World Cup '66 English triumph over West Germany. Trouble is, with the limited production, this album stays mired in 1966 sonics that cripple the songs from fully taking charge. The first four songs grab you a bit more forcefully, with a drum sound recalling their punk-pop side, but the remainder of the tracks, until a second wind around tracks 9-10-11 brings you into their Beatlesque paisley garb fittingly, lag a bit in their lack of energy. More experimentation in the arrangements, more variety in the pretty but ultimately similar Byrdsian guitar chords, would have made more of an impact.
Still, it's a solid album, with excellent liner notes on each song by band members and fans as well as a well-illustrated history of the detailed making of the group's debut album, here appended with its first single sides. I wish all re-issues were packaged with the same care and love. This is reputedly their best album, and one that I had heard of but never heard in the mid-80s, so if you want an intro to the band (see also a compilation from 1992 on the U.S. Homestead label, "Dressed," but it overlaps with much of "Some People"), this is a good pick."
Some Brilliant moments
Alan Mackenzie | Teddington, Middlesex United Kingdom | 04/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I wasn't going to add a review, but when I saw how dismissive another review was, I had to get in and say my two cents worth!
The Dentists have released some better material, but this, the first album, is filled with brilliant guitar melodies, which reaches a peak on the brilliant "Excellent Dream". If anyone likes the Jingle Jangle sound, buy this, buy all the EPs, buy Space Man, Powdered Lobster, and anything else you can find. A band that deserved to be so much bigger. Melodic songs, guitar work from Collins is brilliant and a great vocalist. All supported with some great drums and bass moments. I still listen to these records, often. And I'm still struggling to find something I like more."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1