Stewart Lee
’s celestial choices. Plus reanimated Brummies, maverick maestros and some fine fiddling
A year pre-Covid, outside Islington’s Hope & Anchor on a summer evening to see mod punk classicists The Fallen Leaves, the board unexpectedly promises “support from Cult Figures”. Not the Birmingham band that made two singles in 1979 then disappeared? Yes! Released in 2018,
The 166 Ploughs A Lonely Furrow was the album Cult Figures should have made in 1980, but 2021’s
Deritend is a slick sixties-suffused punk pop set of Keith Moon tubthumping and Carnaby Street crooning. “Silver Blades” mythologises the titular ice rink of Midland memory. “Concrete And Glass” laments the textural changes of Cult Figures’ hometown in an affecting Brummie burr.
Damaged Goods Dec 30, 2020 By Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive
Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since Heavenly last released a record, yet their legacy lives on through the back pages of riot grrl, indie pop, and lo-fi. Heavenly were formed in 1989 after the dissolution of Talulah Gosh, themselves one of the fore-bearers of a scene that became known as C86.
Heavenly released eight singles and four albums over a seven-year period that saw them work with legendary imprints Sarah Records, K, and Wiiija. They were often labeled twee by sections of the music press, but that seemed somewhat unfair when listening to the likes of “Atta Girl” and “Space Manatee,” which undoubtedly paved the way for acts like Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill to briefly infiltrate then subvert the mainstream.
Head below for this week s reviews.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1: Guided by Voices - The Styles We Paid For (Guided by Voices Inc)
The unstoppable Bob Pollard lets fly the third GBV record of 2020 made in quarantine, rocks the same Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. That s the old motto of the United States Postal Service, but it works for
Guided by Voices, too. Bob Pollard has records to make and release, and nothing is going to stop him. Certainly not a global pandemic. The original idea for Guided by Voices third album of 2020 when Pollard wrote the songs back in February, was that it would be recorded live to analogue tape and would be called