Thursday, February 18, 2010

Better Late Than Never


Sometimes it take a few listens for an album or a band to click with me. And sometimes those listens have to be in different settings (the car, work, whilst scrubbing the kitchen counter) or broken down over a period of months, even years. Such was the case for me with several bands that should have been right up my alley from the start, but for one reason or other weren't. Examples would be (in order of eventual acceptance): Echo and the Bunnymen, The Verve and Blur.

A recent addition to this list of better late than nevers (thanks to JT and the bargain bin at McKays) is Longpigs, a throwback to the days of Britpop, and a band that, from where I sat, paled in the shadow of looming giants in the genre like Oasis, Blur, Pulp, etc. Their 1996 debut, The Sun is Often Out, is simply a perfect slice of poptastic pie. Combine The Bends-era Radiohead (you know, when they were halfway good) with Oasis and a dash of Suede and you have a basic idea of the excitement ahead. They had a follow up in 1999 that everyone says is terrible, and who am I to go against everyone, so don't listen to it. Please.

But seriously, if you like a good rock with a melodic feel and the emotional roller coaster of LOUD-quite-LOUD, then check out this album.

Tracks I dig: She Said, On & On, Sally Dances, Elvis

1 comment:

Joshua T. said...

Welcome to the Longpigs club...as you know I've religiously listened to that album for going on 14 years and I would easily put it in the list of top Brit Pop albums like Morning Glory, Suede's self titled, Modern Life et al.