The Bluetones - Expecting To Fly REISSUE [Album]

Cooking Vinyl

April 25, 2009, 05:00 PM

Views: 758   Comments: 4

I must profess that before I received The Bluetones re-released 1996 Number 1 'Expecting To Fly' album through the post I didn't know a great deal about them. I'd always assumed they were one of the fringe indie bands, makeweights that came to an already overcrowded table in the mid 90's. However this is a genuinely lovely little album that doesn't deserve to be simply cast into obscurity, I think it deserves it's re-issue (which is a rare statement indeed).

Obviously on first listen everything else pales in comparison to the bands only real hit (1995's number 2 single "Slight Return") which is just about as perfect as this kind of music gets and does indeed put everything else here to shame. There are more hooks in this one song than in Shed Sevens entire career and it's a real shame that they never managed to replicate it's wistful, melodic urgency and hopeful, anthemic tone. There is little more to say about the song, you'll all have heard it (even if you don't recognise the name you'll recognise the chorus) and it's a great song but that much I already knew. What I was more interested in here was the other 10 songs which in my mind's eye was going to be an experience akin to reviewing Radiohead's "Pablo Honey" having only heard "Creep".

Opener "Talking To Clarry" works well as a scene setter with it's widescreen guitars and optimistic, stadium rock leanings but contains possibly one of the worst lines this side of Razorlight in "you make me happy when I was happy to start with". And that pretty much sums the Bluetones up, they manage to get so much right and so much wrong in almost equal measure. "Clarry" is a decent song but it's overlong and (some decent phased fretwork aside) musically plain. "Bluetonic" is a little more immediately satisfying but plays on the same plodding rhythms and jaunty guitars as Oasis and "Parklife" era Blur who did this kind of thing so much better in their heyday and hence reaped the rewards. The chorus here is probably one of the strongest on the record though and I'm sure in the mid 90's it would have hit the national zeitgeist like a wrecking ball given the right backing, nearly 15 years later though it just sounds twee. "Cut Some Rug" is this albums glam-rock stomper and is probably the most fun song of the set, it's just a shame that Mark Morris lacks the vocal chops to really take this song where it needs to go. His thin, weak delivery here is exposed and vulnerable which doesn't suit the tracks vibe at-all, at the end of the day these guys were trying to sound like Oasis here without Liam, and lets face it Oasis without Liam would be utter shite (yes even "Definitely Maybe).

"Things Change" goes for an altogether more laid back approach with a more restrained guitar and shoegazey vibe that brings to mind the more conventional output of Oxfords "Ride". I liked this song alot, the style suits Morris's voice and there is more of a dynamic to this song that seems to have been missing from all that preceded it. The full on wig-out at the end really came as a shock too and impressed me, it's a shame this band doesn't explore this side of themselves more (on this record at least) as they obviously have/had the capacity to write some really interesting music. Debut single "The Fountainhead" follows and again adopts a more laid back approach, the spare arrangement really lets the melody shine and Morris comes across all Neil Finn in both lyric and tone. I genuinely think The Bluetones are a better band when they are being less Oasis and more Belle & Sebastian and this song is testament to that fact.

The faux vinyl skip here obviously signals the albums half-way point (and is a really contrived and unnecessary conceit which I hope never to hear again) and "Cant Be Trusted" stutters into life. Another standout moment musically that doesn't really blend with Morris's delicate vocals, the rest of the band really shine here though with guitarist Adam Devlin really showing a versatility that most brit-pop guitarists (especially Noel Gallagher) couldn't hold a candle to. The rhythm section is alot more pronounced here too with Adams brother Scott Morris wrapping some intricate mid-range bass parts around Eds Chesters tight, cymbal heavy drums, it's the most musically engaging thing the record has to offer. After the 'hit' (the afore-mentioned perfect melodic kinksian pop of "Slight Return") we have "Putting Out Fires', Expecting To Fly's most spacial offering. The chord progressions and general arrangement here are alot more interesting but there is still a tendency for the band to lapse into tired guitar breakdowns. The production comes through more on this track though with the heavily panned guitars becoming more noticeable and for the first time they appear to be playing different parts. It kicks up a gear towards the end and there are some really nice moments but after more than 6 minutes I was starting to look at my watch.

The closing trio of songs don't do much to salvage the album as they all seem to fizzle out without any real excitement. "Vampire" almost sounds like a Nick Drake out-take in parts and is pleasant enough but the melody and lyrics are plain and unmemorable and make "A Parting Gestures" shuffling country rock sound stylings sound like bottled lightning in comparison. On that note "A Parting Gesture" comes across as a bad Neil Young song and feels like padding on an album that really doesn't need it. "Time & Again" is a little better and again shows off some nice, tight band work but it's an unremarkable re-hash of everything that we've already heard and closes the album with an audible whimper.

I can't say I was too enamoured with the expendable rarities disc as it only contains 2 songs which are not on the record and duplicate versions of inferior recordings. Might be a treasure trove for fans but for everyone else chances are you'll spin it once then shelf it for good.

"Expecting To Fly" is a strange album in many ways, for one it may be one of the only albums in history to have a stronger middle section than a beginning and end. It's got 1 great song, 4 good songs and alot of average songs, in fact my overriding opinion of this album was pretty much.... "meh". A shame as there was potential here, sadly though this album hasn't inspired me enough to seek out The Bluetones later material and see is they ever lived up to that potential.

Tracklisting

Disc 1

1. Talking To Clarry
2. *Bluetonic*
3. Cut Some Rug
4. *Things Change*
5. *The Fountainhead*
6. *Cant Be Trusted*
7. *Slight Return*
8. Putting Out Fires
9. Vampire
10. A Parting Gesture
11. Time & Again

Disc 2

1. A Parting Gesture (John Peel Session 1994)
2. Cut Some Rug (John Peel Session 1994)
3. Bluetonic (Mark Radcliffe Show 1995)
4. Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (Mark Radcliffe Show 1995)
5. Fountainhead (Mark Radcliffe Show 1995)
6. Time & Again (Mark Radcliffe Show 1995)
7. Driftwood (The Evening Session 1995)
8. Cant Be Trusted (The Evening Session 1995)
9. Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (Sound City Bristol - LIVE 1995)
10. Cut Some Rug (Sound City Bristol - LIVE 1995)
11. Cant Be Trusted (Sound City Bristol - LIVE 1995)
12. Bluetonic (Sound City Bristol - LIVE 1995)
13 Time & Again (Sound City Bristol - LIVE 1995)

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report