Solarflares - Psychedelic Tantrum

  by Denzil Watson

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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Some of the thirty-somethings among you will be able to remember the wonderful mid 80's garage combo 'The Prisoners' which featured a young James Taylor, now of course of 'James Taylor Quartet' fame. Alternatively, some of you may have caught the Prisoners on their brief mid-90's reformation. A new Prisoners LP was threatened but nothing materilised. Two years on and here comes the new long player from 'The Solarflares' and all of a sudden the disappointment that the Prisoners reunion failed to yield another long player by the Medway's favourite sons is blown away. The Solarflares are Graham Day (vocals and guitar), Allan Crockford (bass and backing vocals) and Wolf Howard (drums) and is either half of the Prisoners or three quarters of 'The Prime Movers' (Day's post-Prisoners Hendrix-influence group which featured Crockford and Howard with the addition of Fay Hallam on organ) depending upon how you look at it. Fans of both bands will not be disappointed with the Flares. Drawing heavily on the garage sound of the 60's and the energy of 70's punk, the Flares raw but melodic brand of psychedelia is the perfect antidote to the current drab state of music. And it's back to the basics as Day uses his undoubted eye for a good hook and melody rather than fancy studio production. 'Psychedelic Tantrum' is as blistering a selection of songs that you will hear this year, raw and as vital as The Prisoners' seminal and criminally overlooked 'The Last Fourfathers' LP and while the press release boasts 'Be prepared for the best garage record in years' its hard to disagree. The opening track 'Mary' delivers the perfect canvas of raw and driving power chords for Day to spread his melodies over and is followed by 'Stargazing', perhaps the album's only disappointing track - lacking the subtly and tune of the others. 'Apollo Go Go', however, is a glorious gem of an instrumental track (co-written by Day with Fay Hallam ten years ago and featured here to complete the Prime Movers' reunion) which, with its> cheesy organ, would provide a fitting soundtrack for your favourite sci-fi series. The lo-fi production works particularly well on 'Lifetime in one season' as Day starts to rock out. 'All too much' is reminiscent of the Squeeze circa late 1970's- a time when contemporary melodic pop was not at odds with a high chart placing. 'Medway' paints a fairly bleak picture (presumably) of the market town of Chatham where Day and Crockford spent their formative years. The late 60's beat of 'Just wanna be bad' shows just good the band are at interpreting the music from this era while dragging into the 90's. 'Out of our minds' throws off all subtleties drawing more for the punk sound of the late 70's, while the ensuing instrumental 'The Shadow of the past' takes it lead from earlier in the decade in the form of Hendrix with Crockford's wandering bass line and Day's wah-wah guitar. The only non-penned Day track is an excellent interpretation of 60's psych combo The Misunderstood's energetic 'Find a hidden door' with it's pogo-a-go-go pace and layered backing vocal harmonies. The psychedelic theme is maintained with 'You always find a way to hurt me' with its > bitter-sweet chorus, but is a far more melancholic and reflective number. 'Brompton Lane' draws on Day's time after the Prisoners' split, pondering his immediate future in his bed-sit, pre-Prime Movers. 'Medicine spoon' sees the Flares firmly back in the garage hammering out yet another killer riff and melody. The album draws to a fitting close with 'Hold your head up high', a Prisoners' song debuted earlier in 1997. It features the distinctive organ breaks of James Taylor (making the Prisoners connection three quarters complete) and continues in the same vein of the more mature material that made up their one and only single during their brief reformation. While the Solarflares have not been coy about wearing their variety of influences boldly on their sleeve, they have combined them to deliver a cohesive, energetic and compelling debut. Do yourself a favour by buying this LP and catching the Solarflares live. You won't regret it. For anyone wanting more information about any of the bands mentioned in this review, Denzil runs a Prisoners website which can be found at http ://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/3042/index.html

Track Listing:-

1 Mary
2 Stargazing
3 Apollo Go Go
4 Lifetime In One Season
5 All Too Much
6 Medway
7 Just Wanna Be Bad
8 Out Of Our Minds
9 The Shadow Of The Past
10 Find A Hidden Door
11 You Always Find A Way To Hurt Me
12 Brompton Lane
13 Medicine Spoon
14 Hold Your Head Up

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