Sunday, July 26, 2015

Now For the Other Band on This Split 12"

My first post of 2015 was a push to get you to buy Cloudberry Records' wonderful career-spanning compilation of the legendary (well, maybe in Norwich) band Shine! Back in January our pal The Swede described the song "Bite the Apple" as "Gedgetastic," and the fellas in the band would be the first to tell you the Wedding Present was a huge influence. As you can see from the cover art above, "Bite the Apple" was released in Jan. 1990 as part of a split 12" with another Norwich-area band, the Bardots.

Although the Bardots would go on to have more success than Shine! I don't find their body of work nearly as compelling. However, "Sad Anne," from the aforementioned 12", is something special. If they had been from L.A. in the mid-'80s, I think it could have been a hit. This, their second single, sounds like something straight out of the Paisley Underground. Ché put together a compilation of the Bardots in the late '90s that's still in print. Neither one of these songs would be out of place on my best of the '90s list. Alas, I have a rule about being familiar with the work during that decade, and I didn't discover Shine! or the Bardots until much later. I'm sure glad I did eventually find these two tunes. Simon Williams of NME was right when he said things are "janglier in Anglia."

"Bite the Apple"
"Sad Anne"

4 comments:

kevinpat said...

O 'ell yea!! It's raining here in NY but I'm Shine-ing anyway! LOVE these tracks. I do. I bit the apple and work up the family from my spinning. La-la-la…I want to buy that drummer a beer! Yup. In my heart and in my head. Bardots?? All the jingle and jangle put my in a happy tangle. If that doesn't make Anne smile nothing will. It worked for me. Thanks Bri! I'm on to it………!!

kevinpat said...

Let me try that again now that the coffee has kicked in:

O 'ell yea!! It's raining here in NY but I'm Shine-ing anyway! LOVE these tracks. I do. I bit the apple and WOKE up the family from my spinning. La-la-la…I want to buy that drummer a beer! Yup. In my heart and in my head. Bardots?? All the jingle and jangle put ME in a happy tangle. If that doesn't make Anne smile nothing will. It worked for me. Thanks Bri! I'm on to it………!!

Now that's better.

McPop said...

I concur with kevinpat. Great tunes! I'll plan on ordering that Shine! CD. Thanks for the tip Brian.

Brian said...

Glad you're on board, boys. Good stuff.