So Far
Go back in your musical time machine if you will, to say around the late 80’s early 90’s. A time when ‘indie’ hadn’t really been fully defined as a genre, The Smiths, and their ilk were gone, and a new batch of small bands were vying for a piece of the pop music pie. With Acid House ‘larging it’ all over the country, guitar music was about to get a brand-new set of heroes. ‘The House of Love’ ‘My Bloody Valentine’ and ‘The Sundays’ were the coolest new kids on the block. Manchester, or Madchester was kicking off again with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, who along with ‘Primal Scream’ were about to launch the indie dance craze ‘baggy’. And a bunch of small venues with new promoters, new record labels and new journos were going to spread the word. Things were thriving. And nestled amongst the list of indie hopefuls were Blur and Suede (with Justine Frischmann later of Elastica on guitar). Big names now, but in those heady times before Britpop (1989 – 1992) just another couple of bands playing the indie circuit like everyone else and looking to get noticed. One of those ‘indie hopefuls’ was ‘Honey Smugglers’. A band whose place in that crazy but pivotal time before Britpop is slowly being revealed thanks to a series of extensive compilations of that era by Cherry Red Records. They’ve featured in 6 of them. Honey Smugglers shared stages with the likes of Blur, Suede, Dodgy and Levitation (Ex House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers’ new band) without sounding like any of them. An uber tight organ driven music machine that mixed pop, groove and a lot of psychedelia into a bunch of catchy, inventive, eclectic and very English songs, they were un-pigeonholable at a time when everyone was looking for a pigeon to hole. A formidable live act, they released a couple of EPs, but sadly never delivered an album. Now, 35 years later we finally have ‘So Far'. The long-lost debut album by Honey Smugglers, collating recordings that never saw the light of day back then. And what comes across is the sheer diversity of their songwriting and performance. There’s the pure slice of melodic English guitar pop of lead track `She Doesn't Know', ‘Greatest Lovers' with its fragile verses and psychedelic freakout ending. You have the dream pop of 'Good Afternoon' and 'Stay' rubbing shoulders with the skewed psychedelia of 'Shake Free' ‘Rocking Horse' and 'No'. 'Sad Parade' 'Mrs C' 'Apple Tree' and 'Blind’ are vivid urban stories worthy of Ray Davies, years before Blur would hitch a ride on that particular wagon. And of course, their best-known song, the 6-minute indie dancefloor filler 'Listen' (heard here for the first time in its original and definitive version). Inventive, melodic, groovy and psychedelic (in the truest sense of the word) the Smugglers were of their time but in many ways ahead of it too, as the arrival of Britpop a few years later would testify.
Original: $17.33
-70%$17.33
$5.20So Far
Go back in your musical time machine if you will, to say around the late 80’s early 90’s. A time when ‘indie’ hadn’t really been fully defined as a genre, The Smiths, and their ilk were gone, and a new batch of small bands were vying for a piece of the pop music pie. With Acid House ‘larging it’ all over the country, guitar music was about to get a brand-new set of heroes. ‘The House of Love’ ‘My Bloody Valentine’ and ‘The Sundays’ were the coolest new kids on the block. Manchester, or Madchester was kicking off again with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, who along with ‘Primal Scream’ were about to launch the indie dance craze ‘baggy’. And a bunch of small venues with new promoters, new record labels and new journos were going to spread the word. Things were thriving. And nestled amongst the list of indie hopefuls were Blur and Suede (with Justine Frischmann later of Elastica on guitar). Big names now, but in those heady times before Britpop (1989 – 1992) just another couple of bands playing the indie circuit like everyone else and looking to get noticed. One of those ‘indie hopefuls’ was ‘Honey Smugglers’. A band whose place in that crazy but pivotal time before Britpop is slowly being revealed thanks to a series of extensive compilations of that era by Cherry Red Records. They’ve featured in 6 of them. Honey Smugglers shared stages with the likes of Blur, Suede, Dodgy and Levitation (Ex House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers’ new band) without sounding like any of them. An uber tight organ driven music machine that mixed pop, groove and a lot of psychedelia into a bunch of catchy, inventive, eclectic and very English songs, they were un-pigeonholable at a time when everyone was looking for a pigeon to hole. A formidable live act, they released a couple of EPs, but sadly never delivered an album. Now, 35 years later we finally have ‘So Far'. The long-lost debut album by Honey Smugglers, collating recordings that never saw the light of day back then. And what comes across is the sheer diversity of their songwriting and performance. There’s the pure slice of melodic English guitar pop of lead track `She Doesn't Know', ‘Greatest Lovers' with its fragile verses and psychedelic freakout ending. You have the dream pop of 'Good Afternoon' and 'Stay' rubbing shoulders with the skewed psychedelia of 'Shake Free' ‘Rocking Horse' and 'No'. 'Sad Parade' 'Mrs C' 'Apple Tree' and 'Blind’ are vivid urban stories worthy of Ray Davies, years before Blur would hitch a ride on that particular wagon. And of course, their best-known song, the 6-minute indie dancefloor filler 'Listen' (heard here for the first time in its original and definitive version). Inventive, melodic, groovy and psychedelic (in the truest sense of the word) the Smugglers were of their time but in many ways ahead of it too, as the arrival of Britpop a few years later would testify.
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Go back in your musical time machine if you will, to say around the late 80’s early 90’s. A time when ‘indie’ hadn’t really been fully defined as a genre, The Smiths, and their ilk were gone, and a new batch of small bands were vying for a piece of the pop music pie. With Acid House ‘larging it’ all over the country, guitar music was about to get a brand-new set of heroes. ‘The House of Love’ ‘My Bloody Valentine’ and ‘The Sundays’ were the coolest new kids on the block. Manchester, or Madchester was kicking off again with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, who along with ‘Primal Scream’ were about to launch the indie dance craze ‘baggy’. And a bunch of small venues with new promoters, new record labels and new journos were going to spread the word. Things were thriving. And nestled amongst the list of indie hopefuls were Blur and Suede (with Justine Frischmann later of Elastica on guitar). Big names now, but in those heady times before Britpop (1989 – 1992) just another couple of bands playing the indie circuit like everyone else and looking to get noticed. One of those ‘indie hopefuls’ was ‘Honey Smugglers’. A band whose place in that crazy but pivotal time before Britpop is slowly being revealed thanks to a series of extensive compilations of that era by Cherry Red Records. They’ve featured in 6 of them. Honey Smugglers shared stages with the likes of Blur, Suede, Dodgy and Levitation (Ex House of Love guitarist Terry Bickers’ new band) without sounding like any of them. An uber tight organ driven music machine that mixed pop, groove and a lot of psychedelia into a bunch of catchy, inventive, eclectic and very English songs, they were un-pigeonholable at a time when everyone was looking for a pigeon to hole. A formidable live act, they released a couple of EPs, but sadly never delivered an album. Now, 35 years later we finally have ‘So Far'. The long-lost debut album by Honey Smugglers, collating recordings that never saw the light of day back then. And what comes across is the sheer diversity of their songwriting and performance. There’s the pure slice of melodic English guitar pop of lead track `She Doesn't Know', ‘Greatest Lovers' with its fragile verses and psychedelic freakout ending. You have the dream pop of 'Good Afternoon' and 'Stay' rubbing shoulders with the skewed psychedelia of 'Shake Free' ‘Rocking Horse' and 'No'. 'Sad Parade' 'Mrs C' 'Apple Tree' and 'Blind’ are vivid urban stories worthy of Ray Davies, years before Blur would hitch a ride on that particular wagon. And of course, their best-known song, the 6-minute indie dancefloor filler 'Listen' (heard here for the first time in its original and definitive version). Inventive, melodic, groovy and psychedelic (in the truest sense of the word) the Smugglers were of their time but in many ways ahead of it too, as the arrival of Britpop a few years later would testify.
