Giant [Extra tracks]

Great lost pop albums part 327. I keep bangin on about albums like "Giant", albums that should have sold by the truck load , with the sinking heart of someone who knows he is not so much p***sing in the wind as defecating in a hurricane. It's obvious reading the other reviews here that some punters share my opinion of this wondrous album but it's still not enough. "Giant" is a halcyon living breathing marvel of an album. Pop music with an organic scuffed sheen, but a sheen none the less. The melodies are skittering and slightly askew but still dizzy, infectious and addictive .This is song writing that often goes against the grain of what constitutes great pop It's very rarely graceful or dripping with glamorous glee, the vocals by Rollo, like those of Gerard Langley of the Blue Aeroplanes are more than often someone enunciating with a awkward melodic edge yet every song on "Giant "adorns the listener with something to get excited about. Some of it will have you skipping around like a City worker opening his bonus payment.

There is one song on here -"So Good Today"- which is one of those songs that can change your mood imperceptibly .You could be having the day from hell, but one listen to this with it's heady hurdy gurdy arrangement and general air of pleasurable revelling in the little things that can make life worth living and you'll be grinning so wide you'll have to hire extra teeth to fill your mouth up.

Driven my furiously strummed acoustic guitars , tumbling percussion and the odd wheezing gasp of accordion amongst other things , this is one of the best independently released albums of the eighties and one that is so often overlooked . And as if that wasn't enough for the re-release on CD "Cherry Red" have tagged on tracks from other Woodentop singles including the truly berserk "Well Well Well", the sort of un-hinged pop song that is only now making a comeback with the likes Of Mika , Pop Levi and Patrick Wolf. "Giant "deserves to takes it's exalted place amongst other albums of glorious epiphany inducing music on the Mount Olympus of pop. Crane that neck upwards and maybe just maybe this great lost pop album will be re-discovered...lost no more.

Definitely their best album; and although it was acclaimed critically, never propelled the Woodentops beyond cult status. One of the better indie albums from the late 80's, Giant not only includes manic pop songs such as "Get It On", "Love Train" and "Hear Me James", but also excellent slower tempo songs such as "Good Thing" and "So Good Today". And, of course, there is "Love Affair With Everyday Livin'"... simply a great pop song. Included in this release are extra tracks, most notably from the "Well Well Well" E.P. A great slice of indie pop, that has aged remarkably well.

This is cracking album, bristling with great touches, catchy melodies and frenetic beats. At the time I revelled in how bands like the Woodentops producing pure pop brilliance could go under the radar of the mainstream and the bloated music moghuls. Now 25 years later its a bit sad that Rolo Mcginty never got the credit he deserved. Anyway - download this now, you won't be disappointed. After that seek out a copy/download of Its Immaterial 'Song' and Kitchens of Distinction 'Death of the Cool' and you will have 3 of the finest albums of the whole decade and you will probably be in a select club of about a hundred souls.