Just what is this apparent obsession with ‘90s fuzz/dreampop all about? Everywhere I turn there seems to be a new group getting in on the act, dusting off their parents' collections of old Shop Assistants and Ride records. But such is life. If you look elsewhere you will discover others indulging in new readings of old Portishead solutions; themselves post-modern collages of previous reference points cut and pasted to create new meaning. Everything and nothing is new under the sun and therein lies the pleasure (do we really need to tread this ground again?).
I came across Kestrels because they had recorded a version of ‘Throw Aggi Off The Bridge’ by Black Tambourine. The original has long been one of my all time favourite records, one of those tunes I would spin almost without fail at any opportunity. Kestrels just about do it justice too, with a very faithful reproduction. Well, as faithful as you can be without the pearl of Pam Berry and the awesome fuzz, buzz and thump of Brian Nelson, Archie Moore and Mike Schulman.
It is probably unfair for someone of my generation to compare Kestrels to Black Tambourine though. We cannot help but bring our own context, our own impossible to shake, deeply ingrained love for the original texts and their own largely contemporaneous influences (Meat Whiplash, Shop Assistants, Pastels). But just as our own previous generations could not resist telling us how pale an imitation those groups were of their own older influences (Ramones, Spector etc) so I shall resist saying the same about Kestrels. For to say so would be to miss the point. After all the idea of the past only works these days as an industry anyway, so let us instead paint Kestrels' screwed-up Pop cacophony as a diverting moment of action painting over grainy black and white street photography, sliced and hacked in Photoshop.
Liverpool’s Tear Talk also reference Black Tambourine in the promotional text for their beguiling six track digital EP for Bleeding Gold records. It’s through the lens of Sarah records that their sound is most obviously focused however, with definite echoes of the likes of Field Mice and Sweetest Ache threaded inside their awkwardly melancholic sound. I particularly like the nods to The Wake in the likes of ‘Summer Junction’ and ‘Laughing At Clouds’ although the voluminous reverberation of the spaces takes Tear Talk into murkier depths and that’s no bad thing. Last month we marvelled at the long-lost pearls made by This Scarlet Train. I know that Tear Talk will appeal to the same audience, but let us hope their story proves to be lengthier and gives us many more treasures to cherish. This collection is certainly a wonderful opening chapter.
And finally, that original Black tambourine text. Still so thrilling and electric:
Talking of which: http://pitchfork.com/news/45075-black-tambourine-softies-aislers-set-small-factory-return-for-chickfactor/
{The Aislers Set. Oh my}
Posted by: Stuart | February 14, 2012 at 18:33