Whirlpool Guest House - Rough Digs

  by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 11 / 2 / 2009

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Back in 2003, I interviewed Friends frontman William Jones in Gothenburg, and we talked about his band, but also about his label, Summerhouse, a label that primarily releases the records by William’s own band, but also occasionally takes on other acts, including in the late 80s Whirlpool Guest House, which was fronted by William’s friend Carl Green. Six years ago, when I did the interview, I had never heard of that band, and to honest I forgot about them until this CD showed up. 'Rough Digs' is a compilation of all the material released by the band during their lifetime, a 7” single ('The Changing Face') and an album ('Pictures on the Pavement'), plus four previously unreleased songs, all in all 16 songs. Maybe a short history of the band is a good idea at this stage. Whirlpool Guest House was a trio, consisting as well as Carl Green on vocals and guitars also Andrew Davis on bass and vocals, and Andrew’s wife Sallyann on vocals. The drums were handled by their producer Graeme Robinson. The first, and only single was released in 1987, and two years later the album was ready to hit the shelves. The same line-up later formed Shandy Wildtyme, and released an album called 'Luminous' in 1995, also on Summerhouse. For some reason, I got the idea when interviewing William that Whirlpool Guest House was a weird, arty band, so it was with mixed expectations that I put the CD in my stereo, but I was soon relieved to find out that they sounded...like...well, Friends. Or many of the other British indiepop bands of the mid- and late 80’s (like Desert Wolves and all the other bands featured on the fabulous 'Leamington Spa'-compilations). That first single, 'The Changing Face' and the flipside 'Jack of All Trades', is classic indiepop, with very notable bass lines from Andrew. They are maybe not the happiest of songs, but they have a certain quality to them that appeals to me. The album's other songs continue in the same footsteps. There is some Prefab Sprout in there too, especially on tracks such as 'Contributory Negligence'(Yes, I had to check the track list before spelling that). Not all the songs on here are fantastic, but there are at least a handful that will definitely make it to my future mixtapes! I really like the idea of releasing these kind of compilations, where you get the complete output by a band, and not only get the “famous” songs, but also the album tracks and so on. It’s easier to get the full picture, to put it in short. So, kudos to Summerhouse! And thank you for the music, Carl.

Track Listing:-

1 The Changing Face
2 Jack of All Trades
3 The Plumber's Daughter
4 Oh No
5 Bag Baby
6 Salon Land
7 Deer on the Motorway
8 Nearly New
9 Contributory Negligence
10 Scarecrow
11 Young Forever
12 Sometimes I Get So Restless
13 Didn't Want It Anyway
14 Utterly Carefree
15 Last Stop Before Too-Late Town
16 What If We Are Wrong?

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