Pastels/Tenniscoats - Two Sunsets

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 8 / 10 / 2009

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Review

The Pastels hail from Scotland and formed in the early 1980’s at around about the same time as the Jesus and Mary Chain. In recent years they have played a full 1984 set supporting the Jesus and Mary Chain at their London comeback show. They also supported the again reformed My Bloody Valentine for their Scottish dates last year. The Pastels have always had a reputation for not being able to play, but their latest offering, ‘Two Sunsets’, has a surprisingly chilled-out sound. The band have released records on countless labels including Creation and Matador, but these days put out their releases on Stephen Pastel's own label, Geographic. Geographic have released lots of albums by Japanese artists in the past, and ‘Two Sunsets’ is a collaboration with Tokyo-based duo Tenniscoats. The Pastels’ main players are Stephen McRobbie, who is always known as Stephen Pastel; Katrina Mitchell, and Gerard Love. ‘Tokyo Glasgow’, the opening track, is named after both bands’ home towns. This is mostly an instrumental, with lush harmonies and a cinematic, smooth sound. It is quite unlike anything I have heard from the Pastels in the past. It few vocals are sung in Japanese, and musically it is a journey, worth travelling, lovely and very twee in its warmth. ‘Song for a Friend’ is sung as a duet between Stephen and the Tenniscoats’ female singer Saya in both languages. It is a match made in heaven with both their vocals working well together, Recent single, ‘Vivid Youth’ is sung by Katrina and recalls Tompaulin with its lush, gorgeous melodies and rhythm to die for. ‘Yomigaeru’ is again sung in both languages, and is a happy number with a summer based beat. ‘Modesty Piece’ is a soft and calm number, the sort of song you might use to accompany rocking a baby to sleep. ‘About You’ is a song by the Jesus and Mary Chain, but the band add just enough touch of the Velvet Underground to make it their own. ‘Boats’ is sung in English and is slow, beautiful dinner table music, while ‘Hikoki’, is very gentle Japanese pop, quite twee and very lovely. ‘Sodane’ is again sung in Japanese and has a jangly feel to it. ‘Mou Mou Rainbow’ is the longest track here at almost 7 minutes, and sung in Japanese, is long and very drawn out, but works beautifully, while ‘Start Slowly’, which ends the album, is soft, slow and lush. This is not the sort of album few would have expected from the Pastels, but, their first new release in six years, has definitely been worth the wait.

Track Listing:-

1 Tokyo Glasgow
2 Two Sunsets
3 Song For A Friend
4 Vivid Youth
5 Yomigaeru
6 Modesty Piece
7 About You
8 Boats
9 Hikoki
10 Sodane
11 Mou Mou Rainbow
12 Start Slowly So We Sound Like A Loch

Label Links:-

http://www.dominorecordco.com/