4 stars
It was Kitchenware
Records underdogs Hurrah! Who gifted this bumper 5 CD 1980s indie-pop
compendium takes its name its title via a lyric from their single Hip
Hip, which duly inspired a Sarah Records related fanzine. It's
arguable that neither Kitchenware, Sarah or the bands they housed
could have existed without Orange Juice, who flirted with the fragile
notion of happiness on their song, Felicity. It was Edwyn Collins'
arch-janglers, after all, who arguably invented the anti-macho,
anti-rockist aesthetic that would go on to become a genre before
Madchester and Brit-Pop triumphalism shoved such literate
sensibilities aside.
It's odd, therefore,
that while Collins' Sound of Young Scotland contemporaries Josef K,
Aztec Camera and Fire Engines are here, Orange Juice aren't. Neither,
indeed, are The Pastels, who picked up Postcard Records DIY mantle
and went on to influence the spirit of every generation of
independently-minded bands that followed in their wake. Again,
Pastels peers such as the BMX Bandits, The Shop Assistants, Jesse
Garon and the Desperadoes and The Boy Hairdressers, as well as a
nascent Primal Scream, all appear.
Scared To Get Happy
isn't, however, attempting to replicate C86, the NME cassette
compilation for which readers collected six weeks worth of vouchers
then waited twenty-eight days for delivery before being able to hear
a collection which defined an era of so-called 'shambling' bands. Nor
is it a recreation of Pillows and Prayers, Cherry Red's own defining
compilation of the label's early 1980s roster which was sold for just
99p.Artists from both albums appear here, but this is a broader
church, which, despite the plethora of Scottish acts on show,
including Strawberry Switchblade, The Wake, TV 21, Scars, The
Bluebells, Del Amitri, Friends Again and others, embraces a disparate
array of under-achievers, one-offs and future pop stars from all
over.
The Jesus and Mary
Chain, Pulp and The Stone Roses fall into the latter bracket, though
its tantalisingly wonderful one-offs like the heroic romance of the
Wild Swans' The Revolutionary Spirit and Fantastic Something's
sublime If She Doesn't Smile (It'll Rain) that matter just as much.
As the collection's 134 tracks move through the decade without a
Fairlight in sight, even with the omissions, here is a parallel pop
universe preserved in all its lo-fi glory.
The List, July 2013
ends
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