A Month of Nearly Nearly Perfect Albums (#23 and #24)

Today Nu Rave vs old indie twee

23. Myths of the Near Future – Klaxons (2007, Polydor Records)

Its fair to say that Klaxons divided attention.  Some, like the NME, loved them, hailing them as “the most thrilling and visionary band in more than a decade” – this was in 2007, and was as usual, a pretty preposterous statement, ignoring as it does the impact of The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a host of others bands from that decade (and MJM’s we may even explore this later this year).  Others, wrote them off, as a bunch of chancers, overhyped scenesters, which was also preposterous.  Because, despite nu rave turning out to not quite be the neon revolution that the NME described it as – more a damp squib caused by some indie kids exploring their dads old rave records and then taking way too much ketamine, three records from that scene did stand out and do stand the test of time.  ‘Myths of the Near Future’ the bonkers debut from Klaxons is one of them (the other two are the debut albums by Late of the Pier and Crystal Castles just in case you were wondering).

Golden Skans – Klaxons (2007, Polydor Records)

Although of course, ‘Myths of the Near Future’ is no more a Rave (New or Old) record than your average Gene record is, but what it did do was tap into that manic spirit of rave music, and then added some scratchy almost post punk guitars to create something different and something that for a while at least hinted at something exciting.  

The perfect example of this is perhaps their cover of Grace’s 90s club hit ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ which sounds almost reborn with thrashy guitars and wailing sirens clambering all over it instead of the Perfecto produced beats and bleeps that clutter the original.  As covers go, it’s pretty incredible folks.

It’s Not Over Yet – Klaxons (2007, Polydor Records)

Of course, its not just trying to recreate the spirit of dusty warehouses on abandoned airfields, ‘Myths of the Near Future’ does a load more than that.  For a start you get the gonzo punk rave of ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ which twists and bleeps and crashes its way to brilliance and you get the hypnotic paranormal blast of ‘Magick’ as well.   

Atlantis to Interzone – Klaxons (2007, Polydor Records)

Magick – Klaxons (2007, Polydor Records)

Back in 2007, ‘Myths of the Near Future’ was something different and at the time it tore a page out of the rock manifesto and scrawled its own ideas on to the page and then stuck it back lopsidedly with dayglo post it notes.  It may not be aging that gracefully but it’s hard not to love nearly all of it.

Ok, let’s see what’s next

24. Skywriting – The Field Mice (1990, Sarah Records)

Now before I start, songwhip doesn’t have ‘Skywriting’ but it does have ‘Where Did You Learn To Kiss That Way? and all the tracks of ‘Skywriting bar one are on that – so I’ve linked to that.

Some of you will remember the wonderful ‘Indie Top Twenty’ compilation albums that used to come out two or three times a year back in the day.  In was on Volume 11 (might have been 12) of that series that I first heard The Field Mice.  I got given that album (on tape) by OPG one afternoon as we sat outside in the garden of The Command House pub in Chatham.  I have a feeling she might have purloined it from the backroom of the store but it was a decent album and one that I pretty much wore out.

Anyway, the song in question was ‘Triangle’ and so enamoured by it was I that I wrote a letter to Sarah Records and told them how much I loved it and asked them what other records by The Field Mice would they recommended getting and could they add me to any mailing list that they had I would know if they toured any time soon.  I think this might have been 1993 or possibly late in 1992.

Triangle – The Field Mice (1990, Sarah Records)

About a month later I got a package through the post, which back then was always a thrill.  The package contained two things, a letter, handwritten by a Sarah Records employee.  They told me that I had discovered the music of the Field Mice about two years too late, (hey I was 17 and had spent too long listening to The Levellers and the Cud Band) because they’d split about ‘eighteen months ago’ so the chances of me catching them live were next to zero.   The letter then went on to talk about their records and said that the best place to start would probably be ‘Coastal’ a best of compilation that had been released a few months ago – but the author said that in their opinion the best work of the band was to be found on ‘Skywriting’ but the debut ‘Snowball’ was nearly as good.  “Decide for yourself” the author said at the end of the letter.

The second thing that fell out of that package was a C90 cassette.  The record company worker had made me my very own Field Mice compilation album.  It basically contained all of ‘Skywriting’ on one side and all of ‘Snowball’ on the other and it was wonderfully kind of them. 

To be absolutely honest, both are great but ‘Skywriting’ has always been my favourite because it contained ‘Triangle’.  The album version of that stretches it out to nearly nine minutes, almost double the edited version that I’d previously heard.   ‘Triangle’ is incredible with his gentle indie dance feel that sort of feels all baggy on one hand and sounds a lot like New Order on the other.  Regardless its brilliant.

The rest of it is quite eclectic, with the band contrasting different styles across its six tracks (its more of an extended EP than album to be fair, it clocks in at 34 minutes though).  Second track ‘Canada’ sees the band dabble in country and western (sort of an indie twee version of it), ‘Clearer’ sounds like the Go Betweens before we arrive back at New Orderish pretentions with the excellent ‘It Isn’t Forever’.

Canada – The Field Mice (1990, Sarah Records)

Clearer – The Field Mice (1990, Sarah Records)

It Isn’t Forever – The Field Mice (1990, Sarah Records)

Ok, here is tomorrows, lyrical clue, which I’m not expecting many of you to get,

“I was raised in the hood until my momma went to nursing school”