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Product Description
Review
Under the radar for the last three years, Reading’s Pete & The Pirates have been stealthily gathering pace and fans, road-testing a brilliantly bittersweet pop concoction that’s not just another nabbing of Libertines, Strokes or Blur influences. Their debut album Little Death – a celebration and commiseration of teenage-hood’s giddy fumble for orgasmic release – was instead a Home Counties spin on the sublime guitar-pop of New Zealand’s legendary cult label Flying Nun (as in The Chills, The Clean, The Bats, Abel Tasmans and more). Patented in the mid-80s, it’s a sound both innately happy and intuitively sad, with simultaneously fragile and robust melody and harmony, entwined guitars that ping back and forth between spiky and jangly, and tightly meshed guitar/bass/drum patterns that retain a palpable feeling of space. There were hints, too, of Buzzcocks and The Undertones in this renaissance of so-called ‘perfect pop’. And now they’ve gone and perfected it even further.
For newcomers, there are two Petes among this quintet: bassist Pete Cattermoul and co-guitarist Pete Hefferan. But lead vocalist Tom Sanders is the band’s emotional heart and soul, with enough melodies at his disposal to also fuel his solo sideline, Tap Tap. But the Pirates are the main draw, and One Thousand Pictures is almost insanely catchy. It’s also a step on, witnessed by the heavier guitar fest and gorgeous keyboard squiggle in the opening Can’t Fish. Cold Black Kitty is equally ramped-up and electronically tweaked while the irresistible chug of recent single Come to the Bar is part-driven by burbling and pinging synths. It’s the album’s most euphoric chorus, which nails an everyday emotion – Sanders pleads with girl to just come back, and then go down the pub – with an eagle eye. With his attractively nervy voice, he always sounds haunted by ye olde girl trouble: "My tail’s between my legs now," he cowers with emasculated honesty on the downbeat Washing Powder. But sometimes he scores. On current single United, he sings, with tangible glee, "I just think it’s funny how we are united, on the carpet."
With these perfect nuggets of hormonal pop, Pete & The Pirates may not be courageous or sophisticated but they will make you want to jump around the room – even when you’re empathising with Sanders’ woes. Perhaps 13 tracks is two tracks too many (it flags toward the end), so you might want a breather now and again, but in the words of Little Death’s best track: come on feet! If only more indie-pop had half the nous and route-one fun of One Thousand Pictures.
--Martin Aston
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Pete and The Pirates second album is every bit as much a
breath of fresh air as was their 2008 debut 'Little Death'.
The band is as English as a Victoria sandwich and tardy trains.
In frontman Thomas Sanders we find an unlikely hero; he strides
into the heart of these perky tunes slapping his thigh like a
panto buccaneer come to claim another's lucre as his own!
He's got swagger and panache, deliciously flat-vowels and the
kind of unaffected post-punkish charm which will doubtless
make these thirteen stirling compositions go down a storm live.
The tunes really are very good indeed; unashamedly old-fashioned
good-time knees-ups with the odd bit of pathos thrown in here
and there as a counterweight to the piratical party atmosphere.
(With a notable exception in the darker subject matter of 'Shotgun').
'Come To The Bar' is a fine example of their craft; a four-square
genuflection to late seventies rough-and-ready pop ( Mr Sanders
can even hear echoes of 'Heart Of Glass' in his mind's ear!)
The lyrics are both poingnant and very funny in equal measure.
The psychedelic electronic phasing in the final bars is a hoot!
Messrs Hefferan and Thorpe (guitars); Mr Cattermoul (bass) and
Mr Sanders (drums) are a tight little ensemble who never do any more
or any less than is necessary to bring out the best in the music.
The leaping and loping (Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da-ish) riff of 'Winter 1',
with it's curiously out of kilter organ lines is another winner and
in the uproariously ribald 'United' the band delivers a true classic!
'One Thousand Pictures' is a feel-good album to slot into the
soundtrack for Summer 2011. It really is a chest of treasures.
Highly Recommended.
breath of fresh air as was their 2008 debut 'Little Death'.
The band is as English as a Victoria sandwich and tardy trains.
In frontman Thomas Sanders we find an unlikely hero; he strides
into the heart of these perky tunes slapping his thigh like a
panto buccaneer come to claim another's lucre as his own!
He's got swagger and panache, deliciously flat-vowels and the
kind of unaffected post-punkish charm which will doubtless
make these thirteen stirling compositions go down a storm live.
The tunes really are very good indeed; unashamedly old-fashioned
good-time knees-ups with the odd bit of pathos thrown in here
and there as a counterweight to the piratical party atmosphere.
(With a notable exception in the darker subject matter of 'Shotgun').
'Come To The Bar' is a fine example of their craft; a four-square
genuflection to late seventies rough-and-ready pop ( Mr Sanders
can even hear echoes of 'Heart Of Glass' in his mind's ear!)
The lyrics are both poingnant and very funny in equal measure.
The psychedelic electronic phasing in the final bars is a hoot!
Messrs Hefferan and Thorpe (guitars); Mr Cattermoul (bass) and
Mr Sanders (drums) are a tight little ensemble who never do any more
or any less than is necessary to bring out the best in the music.
The leaping and loping (Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da-ish) riff of 'Winter 1',
with it's curiously out of kilter organ lines is another winner and
in the uproariously ribald 'United' the band delivers a true classic!
'One Thousand Pictures' is a feel-good album to slot into the
soundtrack for Summer 2011. It really is a chest of treasures.
Highly Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I like this LP more than their first LP. I've had the LP a few months now & still play it from start to finish. I definitely think a few of these tracks would be excellent played live at a summer festival. The vinyl is not the cleanest of pressings though, with a little surface noise, but apart from that, excellent.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not being familiar with either Pete or his pirates this LP has been a pleasant surprise. The opening couple of tunes are pleasant enough Britpop-sounding slowies, but with track 3 the whole thing takes off into much more pleasant and interesting pastures, so I advise old-school listeners to stick with it. Definite reminders of the Buzzcocks in some of the themes and riffage, and also hints of Pulp with disco synths and rhythms. The keening vocals also recall Clearlake. As a whole, recommended for skinny youths in skinny trousers who like a bit of Elizabeth Smart, and also for their parents who won't be frightened by the intelligent guitar-based pop.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Simply fantastic
Quite simply, everyone who hears this CD falls in love with it! If you're in a bad mood or feeling out of sorts, just whack this on and watch the grey mists lift. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stephen Benyunes
Sing along addictive
Great album for wailing in the car. Great lyrics, addictive rifs. Don't think
There's a bad track on there, which is quite rare I think.
There's a bad track on there, which is quite rare I think.
Published 8 months ago by M. R. Rocca
Why Are Pirates Called Pirates?
Cos they are..................OK actually. More melodic than the first album, this nevertheless develops the style and delivers a sublime, melodic set. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Nick Redfern
a wonderful discovery
I am always on the lookout for musical nuggets in the indie/pop genre and I had never heard of Pete & the Pirates. Read more
Published 9 months ago by philou
superb superb
i dont do reviews but here we go. lets not hang around i love this album. my son bought me little death and i was taken by their refreshing sound. Read more
Published 10 months ago by brownie
highly dissapointing
I loved 'little death'. I dont like this one. i find it dull and lifeless. it sounds a bit like the first album, but whatever it is that made the first album so fantastic is... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Fraser I. Cook
Fantastic album!
Having heard a lot of the tracks from this album played in session on 6 Music, and already owning the first album, I preordered feelng pretty confident I would like it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Spiff
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