There Goes Concorde Again

This CD collects together 6 tracks taken from the 3 singles released in the early 80's by "...and the Native Hipsters" (the band's full title) together with another 12 gems which have remained criminally unreleased for 20 years. Rumour has it there's more of this, as well... On the band's UK web site there's talk of plans to release more (and even new) material.

It's impossible to simply describe the band's sound, as it varies so much from track to track. The diversity shown here is truly staggering, from the insistent horns and rhythm that drive forward the story of "Poor Prince"; the cheery singalong of "Mr Magic"; the mildly disturbing backing to "Tenderly Hurt me"; to the classic minimalism of "There goes Concorde again" itself.

The band's core is William (music) and Blatt (vocals), with a wide selection of musicians dropping by to lend a hand. There are too many to list here, but if I mention David Cunningham - who worked with the Flying Lizards around the same time - this might give a loose pointer to where the band are coming from. The instruments used seem to be anything and everything that could add to the party. While no kitchen sink is credited, there *is* a "typewriter solo" in the middle of the title track.

While most of the songs are centred round Blatt's vocals, "Middle of the Road Rage" features the Wandsworth Council Highways Department on pneumatic drills and William - on harmonica. The drills were recorded through "the very window that Blatt saw Concorde through". If you've never heard truly musical pneumatic drills, here's your chance. If you've never wanted to, then shame on you :-)

Added to the mix on other tracks by William are various "noises". William was happy to use anything and everything that came to hand. In 1980 the 7" release of "There goes Concorde again" included a snippet of sheet music with a request to record it and send the results to the band for possible inclusion in a future project. Sadly it's unknown if this ever happened. The band's web site mentions that "Larry's coming back" was - years before sampling - to have been based on Ska record, but afraid of legal consequences the record company cried off.

While the music varies from track to track, the one thing that is common to most of them ("Middle of the Road Rage" is an instrumental :-) is Blatt's vocals. Not that Blatt's singing is easily categorized either. Her distinctive vocals give each word and phrase a wide-eyed and unique charm. This is most obvious in the title track whose chorus consists of repeating the phrase "There goes Concorde again", but in Blatt's hands each repetition is given a character and emphasis of it's own.

And the songs themselves tell so many stories. "Poor prince" is the tale of an Alsatian left unfed for days (the chorus "who will feed poor Prince?" takes on a much darker meaning towards the end). "Stuck" tells the story of someone who stuck their head through some railings and is "quite well held". In an old Melody Maker interview the band revealed this song contains a number of odd phrases that Blatt came out with in conversation including "don't believe in the Fire Brigade".

Among the "new" songs my favourite is the "Story of two twins" in which Blatt makes up a story as she goes along (to the increased amusement of the musicians in the background). The tale ends up with a bus driven by two twins crashing into the Thames, floating downstream and then breaking the Thames Barrier "the pride of London that has just worked once and proved its worth". While Blatt increasingly struggles to maintain her composure, the musicians in the background openly crack up. As did I :-)

"Mr Magic" - another new song - is as simple and as near to "pop" as the Hipsters ever got. In happier times this would make a good single.

This CD is being released by the band at a bargain price. Only the un-curious amongst you have any excuse for not buying this record, and if you've read this far through the review, then why not treat yourself to one of the most diverse and entertaining releases of the last 20 years.