Woe Betides - Never Sleep
by Maarten Schiethart
published: 2 / 12 / 2010
Label:
Songs in the Sark
Format: CD
intro
Superb late 70's and early 80's pop music on debut album from London-based trio, the Woe Betides
Unforthcoming and unfriendly as they may seem, the Woe Betides are a London trio with a great gift for making pop music. Pop music where, to be exact, chords get strummed in a merciless manner. After the two strong songs, 'On the Wheel' and 'Bone on Bone', that open up their album, the Woe Betides fall down with a mysteriously crap third gap track,'The Ape, the Owl and the Satellite' and then on the next, 'One Of Your Pills', they resurface again sounding amazingly lean and melodic. As if to round off side 1 of this LP, 'This Head, This Heart' proves an even better candidate for Radio 6 and Radio 1 airplay. It will ring on in your memory for days. So far, we have had 4 out of 5. When track #6, 'Sylvia', kicks in, you'll feel as if standing under a shower of top faulty pop music. The Woe Betides draw inspiration from those American (East Coast) bands from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have the same type of catchy choruses and driving beats that gained the dBs, the Shoes and the Bongos cult status. The best known band to compare The Woe Betides to, however, would be the Knack. With the Woe Betides, the twists are like hooks within a melody, as was also the case with the Knack. This CD rates 9/10. All tracks were supposed to be 'pop music' and only one fails. In download money, it would be cheaper to buy the entire album including the weaker third track. It builds a perspective.
Track Listing:-
1 On The Wheel2 Bone On Bone
3 The Ape, The Owl And The Satellite
4 One Of Your Pills
5 This Head, This Heart
6 Sylvia
7 What Can't Be Taken Back
8 Nat-West Tower
9 Little Beliefs
10 Persian Punch
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