Rumblefish - 1234

During the last couple of years, many labels have been releasing compilations of bands from the glorious C86 era of the late 80’s. Now Summerhouse Records, managed by Friends’ frontman William Jones, have joined the list of those labels, with the release of this compilation of everything by Birmingham-based Rumblefish that recorded from 1986 to 1989. During this period the band switched band members a lot, and all in all there were ten different line-ups with eleven members. The first single, 'Solid Wood', was released on the Pink Label, a label that also housed bands like McCarthy and the Wolfhounds, and later they would go on to release some singles on the aforementioned Summerhouse label. As a huge fan of McCarthy, this is pure pleasure to me, but after when I listened to it for a while, I realized that they had more in common with label mates Wolfhounds in the fierce tempo that drives some of these songs, like 'Medicine' and 'Theatre King'. What Rumblefish did have that their contemporary bands didn’t was a trumpet player. It features dominantly on most of the songs here, which makes you think of the equally fantastic Brilliant Corners. A favourite song of mine is 'The Lodge', where the trumpet is joined by a strong-sounding violin. If you’re the slightest bit interested in the British C86 music, this is a must!

Track Listing:-

1 Solid Wood
2 Tug-Boat Line
3 Dum-Dum
4 Everything Electrical
5 Theatre King
6 Rave
7 Medicine
8 The Lodge
9 Sing Slim!
10 So Lightly
11 Don't Leave Me
12 That's What I Say
13 What You Do To Me
14 Beachsong