published: 16 /
11 /
2013
Label:
Damaged Goods
Format: CD
Elative and totally compelling twenty-nine song compilation from short-lived but influential 80's pop act, Talulah Gosh
Review
I so wish I knew about Oxford’s Talulah Gosh when I was twelve when they were still an active band. Maybe my life would have been more exciting, and my music taste less generically hip if I was spinning their 7” singles instead of the latest Madonna, Prince and Duran Duran ones. When I listen to this discography compilation I get such a rush every time a new track comes on and there is twenty-nine of them in all, so that’s a lot of rushing, I can tell you.
Each one is a pop gem, some fast and punky and some a bit slower and a little more melancholic but not much, yet all of them have that 80's indie jangle and it never, ever grates. You just want to hear more. The only other band that could do the twee Sarah Records sound in my book and sound consistently incredible was the Softies.
‘My Best Friend’ & ‘My Boy Says’ with its added hand claps both contain a speedy guitar style which is similar in vein to the great Johnny Marr’s, but it’s far more unhinged, far more unfocused and far more instant. And even after the bands initial burst onto the UK indie scene when their songs began to sound a little more polished there was still the thrashing drums of Mathew Fletcher to contend with on the likes of ‘Bringing Up Baby’, and the piercing female screams that foreshadowed the riot grrrl movement on ‘Tescard Baby’. These songs are nothing if not raw and utterly real. It makes no sense that this record sounds totally relevant and vital whilst listening to it today; 27 years after some of these songs were originally released.
I leave this compilation elated, and genuinely look forward to the next time I play it. I rarely feel that way about any band. It’s such a shame it took me so long to hear Tallulah Gosh.
Track Listing:-
1
Beatnik Boy
2
My Best Friend
3
Steaming Train
4
Just a Dream
5
Talulah Gosh
6
Don't Go Away
7
Escalator Over the Hill
8
My Boy Says
9
Way of the World
10
Testcard Girl
11
Bringing Up Baby
12
I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Thank
13
The Girl With the Strawberry Hair
14
Talulah Gosh (Radio Session Vers
15
Do You Remember
16
Looking for a Rainbow
17
Sunny Inside
18
My World's Ending
19
Be Your Baby
20
Break Your Face
21
In Love for the Very First Time
22
Spearmint Head
23
I Told You So
24
Pastels Badge
25
Rubber Ball
26
Steaming Train (Demo)
27
I Told You So (Demo)
28
Mmm Mmm He's so Dreamy (Dem
29
Sunny Inside (Demo)
Band Links:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talulah_
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heavenl
http://damagedgoods.co.uk/bands/talula
Label Links:-
http://www.damagedgoods.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DamagedGoodsR
https://www.youtube.com/user/Damgoodre
https://twitter.com/DAMAGEDGOODSREC
https://plus.google.com/10811642622648