English band Blueboy were part of the Sarah Records roster, making a style of indie rock that was usually toned down and emotionally nuanced but sometimes shot through with enthusiastic jangle. A strict label policy for Sarah was that singles were not included on LPs, but were a separate space for songs to be experienced with exclusive focus. Blueboy took this edict to heart, releasing eight singles in addition to three studio full-lengths during a run that lasted the majority of the 1990s. The compilation “Singles 1991-1998” collects all of the band’s non-album singles and their respective B-sides, presenting them in chronological order and all in the same place for the first time.
It’s an excellent singles comp in the tradition of Singles Going Steady, Louder Than Bombs, or Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, offering up some of the group’s best tracks in a long playing format but also showcasing how much Blueboy evolved as the years went on. The earliest singles are spare, often led by lilting acoustic guitar and finding vocalist Keith Girdler evoking the same soft melancholy that the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone found on his solo albums.
A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy’s singles collection and the band’s final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records’ own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard and liner notes by Paul Stewart.
“One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend’s shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. They were “Clearer” and “Alison“.
Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we’d regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare. This was the first time we’d ever played a note of music that was using someone else’s money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded “Clearer”, “Fearon” and “Chelsea Guitar”, with “Clearer” becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels.
This is especially true on slight spacious tracks like “Chelsea Guitar” and “Stephanie,” but the band picks up the energy with the addition of chiming guitars and peppy drums on relative rockers like “A Gentle Sigh” or with the bright cello and vocal harmonies of “Meet Johnny Rave.” As the compilation goes on, Blueboy try on some different styles, experimenting with drum machines and synths on “Hit” and “River,” delving into ambient formlessness on instrumental track “Nimbus,” and eventually resembling something more like Britpop on later songs like “Looney Tunes,” but they never fully let go of their melancholic indie pop core.
“Singles 1991-1998” is an excellent primer for Blueboy, with no shortage of tracks that stand on their own, but the songs also fit together for a continuous listening experience as good as (if not better than) some of the band’s official albums.
The Fat Angel Sings 