Big Sleeping House

Microdisney balanced Cathal Coughlan's bleak, satirical lyrics with Sean O'Hagan's brand of new pop- O'Hagan has since made music with The High Llama's & Stereolab, which may give you an idea. Imagine if The Smiths dropped the teenage posturing & repressed homosexuality, took up the complete works of Swift & made music that was the indie-equivalent of Steely Dan & you're close...

Big Sleeping House is a pleasant 16 track romp through the last three Microdisney albums (The Clock Comes Down the Stairs, Crooked Mile, 39 Minutes), with a few tracks from the Peel Sessions collection (Loftholdingswood is originally from Love Your Enemies, aka We Hate You South African Bastards, while Begging Bowl is from 85's Clock/Stairs).

Microdisney were signed to Virgin & made much of the material found here- 1987's Crooked Mile contained many classic moments & should have been the album that took them to, at least, Lloyd Cole/The The status. Singer's Hampstead Home is a jingly-jangly classic, detailing the media circus surrounding label-mate Boy George's heroin addiction. It reminds me of Oliver Stone's Nixon, Coughlan's lyrics both empathetic & cutting. Another great song from this album is Mrs Simpson, impossibly moving: "My Aunt had died/leaving me millions that I wanted to share". This predates all those indie-style bands who used strings in the following decade- forget Divine Comedy, Verve & all that. It also predicts the Walkeresque-affectations of Fatima Mansions: Behind the Moon, Walk Yr Way. The guitar solo is the most fantastic thing ever. Armadillo Man fits in with the subversive use of pop Microdisney employed- sounding like something between Hue & Cry/Wet Wet Wet & Go Betweens/Edwyn Collins.

1988's final album, 39 Minutes, advanced on Crooked Mile- almost hit single Town to Town is still lovely stuff, sounding a bit Ocean Rain (but with politics, rather than nonsense- lyrically speaking). "She's trying to pronounce my name...I can't help you, someone else will- if you just sit still...Get Oslo Get Glasgow...Fry Dresden...Fry Dublin"- Back to the Old Town is as great, it's got a chorus, jangly acoustic guitars, jibes at monarchy, surf organ, crashing drums & great lyrics: "We've got mainstream lives to keep us smug"- words as spot on now, as then...

Send Herman Home opens with an impression of Iain Paisley prior to some Scritti Politti/Living in a Box pop-funk, I would love to see a boyband cover this (the backing vocals come from the guys who would become LondonBeat!). I wish someone would publish a book of Coughlan's lyrics from both Microdisney & Fatima Mansions- easily one of the greatest lyricists of all time.

My only quibbles- the early years aren't very well represented (nothing from Everybody is Fantastic), the sleevenotes are incorrect & largely absent & the Betty Lou-version of I Can't Say No is not as much fun as the shambling drunk one on the 12" of Gale Force Wind (though nice Grease-reference!). Big Sleeping House is a great introduction to the works of Microdisney, who like Fatima Mansions deserve to have their back catalogue reissued...