New (to me) Music - July

Gayle Ramage
Jul 27
8 min read

We’re into the second half of the year already (blimey!) but there’s no end to the music I continue to discover and enjoy. Here are my first-time listens from the month of July!

Pugwash - Silverlake (2017)

I have just one regret about this album. That I listened to it after last month’s XTC fan festival where Mr Pugwash himself, Thomas Walsh, was in attendance. I passed him sitting at a signing table at one point and if I’d heard the fantastic Silverlake by then, I would have felt confident enough to say hello.

Having heard of Pugwash but not heard their music before, I was coming to this album without an idea of what to expect. My first reaction during opening track, The Perfect Summer, was delight at the vocals. Walsh has a really pleasant tone to his voice, and in places it reminded me of Rufus Wainwright a little. The music was a delight, too, being a mix of power pop / alt. rock. Having read that Walsh is a big fan of The Beatles, ELO (and, of course, XTC), you can definitely hear the influences on this album, which is no bad thing at all.

Looking at the cover for Silverlake, I really should have done a Best Album Cover for each month’s post but I’ll maybe save that for the end of the year.

Highlights: The Perfect Summer - What Are You Like - Sunshine True - Everyone Knows That You’re Mine - Easier Done Than Said - Autarch

Tin Spirit - Scorch (2014)

In last month’s post, when I wrote about Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, I mentioned the term, Prog Rock. Tin Spirit, whose members include former XTC guitar legend, Dave Gregory, and Dan Steinhardt from YouTube’s That Pedal Show, are definitely a band who fit within that genre. Scorch, their second and final album, is quite short at just 8 tracks, though half of them clock in at over 6 minutes; the closing track, Garden State, is a whopping 15 minutes and 7 seconds. Pressing play on track 1, While it’s always a positive thing to hear new music, and everything about the album was very well done, from songwriting, musicianship, vocals and production, I think it confirmed for me that I’m not a massive fan of Prog. However, I have selected a few highlights from the album. In particular, I enjoyed the slightly menacing sound of Binary Man’s verses.

Highlights: Binary Man - Wrapped and Tied - She Moves Among Us

Jen Olive - Warm Robot (2010)

Like Pugwash and Tin Spirit, Jen Olive is another artist with links to XTC, in particular Andy Partridge, since he produced this debut album and both are members of The 3 Clubmen, alongside third Clubman, Stu Rowe. Similarly to Pugwash, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Not something I’ve really done in this series, but I wrote a couple of initial thoughts while listening to Warm Robot: “Very clever, quirky music and vocals/harmonies. Needs a second listen with more attention paid to it.” Yes, dear reader, I listened to Warm Robot while working, so my attention was sometimes not fully focused on the music (when will I learn?). But I’m actually looking forward to giving this album another listen, because there are some glorious vocals, harmonies, and unexpected chord turns here. I think Warm Robot is an album that insists on undivided attention (so I’ll be giving it a second listen on a lovely long walk instead of parked at my work desk).

Highlights: Boulevard - Robot Boy - So Funny - Querquehouse

Crowded House - Temple of Low Men (1988)

For those who have been reading all these New (to me) Music posts, you may have scratched your heads on occasion, wondering why it is that I have never heard the music of a particular artist until now. Crowded House, you’ll be happy to hear, is of course a band I am familiar with: Weather With You, Don’t Dream It’s Over, Fall At Your Feet, It’s Only Natural, and Better Be Home Soon (which features on this their second studio album) are all songs from the New Zealand-Australian band that I’m very familiar with. But my friend, Sarah, from last month’s fan festival recommended I give Temple of Low Men a whirl, so that’s what I did. I’ve seen comments about Neil Finn’s vocals having a likeness to Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook’s, and I’d have to agree hearing the songs from this album. I think Never Be The Same in particular is a standout. I like the melody, and can imagine this is a great song live.

Highlights: Into Temptation - Mansion In The Slums - When You Come - Never Be The Same - Love This Life - Sister Madly - Better Be Home Soon

Terry Hall - Home (Expanded, 1994)

There were a couple of reasons why I chose the debut album of former Specials frontman, Terry Hall, to listen to as part of this series. Back in April, I listened to Terry’s former band, Fun Boy Three’s 1983 album, Waiting and I’d already heard Hall’s version of Sense which he co-wrote with Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie, which I love. Now, unbeknownst to me until I looked up the credits, this album also has a link with Mr Andrew Partridge of the parish of Swindon (he wrote two tracks, I Drew a Lemon and Moon on Your Dress). Elsewhere on the album, Hall collaborated with Nick Heyward and Damon Albarn, and recorded two covers: The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows and the Bucharach-penned classic, This Guy’s In Love With You. It’s a good album that sadly wasn’t particularly a hit upon initial release. I’ve not yet had a look to see if there’s more solo Hall albums but if there is I’ll happily give ‘em a listen, too.

Highlights: Forever J - You - Sense - I Drew a Lemon - Moon on Your Dress - Suburban Cemetery - Guess It’s Not a Great Day to Be Me - God Only Knows - This Guy’s in Love with You - Mistakes

Catatonia - International Velvet (1998)

I bought Catatonia’s 1996 debut album, Way Beyond Blue, back in the late nineties. Though my memory is a little foggy, I think it was after their follow-up album, International Velvet, was released. It may have been the case that of the two albums, Way Beyond Blue, was the cheaper one so that’s what I spent the little money I had on. WBB is a great album by the way, and I’d recommend giving that a listen if you haven’t already. But International Velvet was their breakout album, spawning two of the band’s biggest hits in Mulder and Scully and Road Rage. While I liked the album I thought I would like it a lot more than I did. I did add quite a few songs to the highlights list, but apart from the aforementioned singles, I didn’t add any to my Fave Songs playlist. Maybe a few more listens of the album will change that.

Highlights: Mulder and Scully - I Am The Mob - Road Rage - Goldfish and Paracetamol - Don’t Need the Sunshine - Strange Glue - No Stone Unturned - Mantra for the Lost

Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish (1976)

Be-Bop Deluxe is a band whose name I keep seeing in various places online, and I’ve learnt that it’s an indication that I should give them a listen. The only thing I knew about them was their name until I looked up some information in preparation for this post. Ships In the Night sounded vaguely familiar when I heard it, and I’ve subsequently discovered it was their most successful single, reaching no. 23 in the UK. I was getting a sense of Glam Rock and Bowie vibes from some of the tracks. Will I listen to more Be-Bop Deluxe? Maybe.

Highlights: Fair Exchange - Ships In the Night - Beauty Secrets

Split Enz - True Colours (1980)

Harking back to last month’s festival, one of the interviewees was producer Hugh Padgham who talked about his work and the acts he had produced over his long career. One of the acts were Split Enz (who morphed into Crowded House), though it wasn’t until 1982 he worked with the band. This surprised the aforementioned Sarah who was also sat in the audience for the interview, being a big Split Enz fan herself.

I was only familiar with opening track and UK Top 12 hit, I Got You. I love the song enough to have added it to my Fave Songs playlist, so I was hoping to find equally fantastic delights within the album. While I think that song is definitely the stand-out track, I liked what I heard enough to definitely listen to more music from the band.

Highlights: I Got You - Shark Attack - I Hope I Never - Nobody Takes Me Seriously - Poor Boy - How Can I Resist Her

The Housemartins - The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987)

Being very familiar with the work of Paul Heaton, primarily during his time in The Beautiful South, and having already listened and enjoyed the other Housemartins album, London 0 Hull 4, there were no surprises listening to the second and final studio album from the band, nor did there have to be. I was happy enough with just hearing more fantastic songs. The closing track, Build, which features fellow future South vocalist Dave Hemingway on chorus duties, has been a favourite song of mine for quite a while. I’d also heard Five Get Over Excited and Me And The Farmer prior to listening to this album. I saw Heaton live in Sheffield back in March (you can read my review here) in which he performed Five.. as well as Happy Hour from the debut Housemartins album. I know there’s a final album featuring a collection of singles, b-sides, etc, so that’s on my radar to listen to before the end of the year.

Highlights: The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death - The Light Is Always Green - The World’s On Fire - We’re Not Going Back - Me And The Farmer - Five Get Over Excited - Johannesburg - Bow Down - Build

Simple Minds - Life In A Day (1979)

I think this was the album that surprised me the most when I heard it this month. Actually, let me go back a little earlier to a couple of months ago when No Cure, the first track from Side 2 of the album, came up on a new wave playlist I was listening to. I was surprised to see that the band were Scottish rockers, Simple Minds (the song had a strong Sparks vibe to it). Only familiar with their biggest hits, Don’t You (Forget About Me) and Alive and Kicking, and knowing the bare minimum about them (they’re Scottish and Jim Kerr is the frontman), I didn’t expect to hear the new wave sound in their music. A second song from the album came up in the same playlist, Someone. Intrigued, I sought out the album both tracks belonged to, and gave it a listen. I really liked what I was hearing and will be checking out more of their earlier work.

Highlights: No Cure - Someone - Life In A Day - Sad Affair - All For You - Pleasantly Disturbed - Chelsea Girl - Wasteland - Murder Story - Destiny

Although not an album, this month I also listened to a 2004 CD single by English rock band, The Milk and Honey Band, which feature two songs on the disc: the single, Boy From the Moon (featuring Andy Partridge on backing vocals), and Way Too Long. Both are gorgeous tracks.