http://www.lostmusic.co.uk/article.php? ... 6094220207
The Teenbeat - Caravan to Obscurity
Monday, September 26 2005 @ 09:42 AM BST
Contributed by: tmc
Views: 5
The Teenbeat have been around forever. Really. This 3 CD collection is just the tip of what they have recorded down the years since their inception. Forever is actually about 10 years. I first became aware of The Teenbeat when I saw some of their London gigs in 2000. That seems like a different lifetime now. So receiving this colossal retrospective was both a surprise and a joy.
Three reasons to love The Teenbeat.
1. Their songs. The sense of dispair and fun which shine through in equal measure.
2. Their singer. Adrain Shaw. A man possessed of a great lyrical turn of phrase that can conjure funny, sick or sad images all at once.
3. Their music. Loose. Tight. Together. Apart. This was a band that could play. And they did. All the time. Gigs are less frequent these days. But these 62 songs showcase the band in all their settings, live, jamming and recording. It's like hearing out takes of some great lost band.
Do you need more reasons than this? The band have a DIY ethic that is admirable. They didn't wait around to be found. They just did their own thing. Making their own CDs and Video's and getting their own gigs and taking their kicks where they could find them. They have made countless CDr releases and have sold them at their gigs and later online. Who needs the music industry? You really can do it yourself.
Thinking I knew The Teenbeat reasonably well before hearing this compilation, I now realise I knew so little. My favourites like 'Stairways' , 'Aldi Girl', 'Shit Weather' and 'Dead Bird' all surface on CD one. It's when you get deep into CD2 and CD3 that you actually realise their is so much more to love and even more to hear from The Teenbeat.
This isn't a hi-fi recording. It's just a band playing quirky and offbeat songs, brilliantly. Apparently there is enough material in the can so to speak, for a few more Teenbeat retrospectives. That can only be a good thing.
You want me to describe the music? Tough call. It's easier to head over to the website and download a few tracks to help convince you to buy this compilation. There are 7 tracks to be heard on mp3. Including favourites of mine 'I Got Big' and 'Aldi Girl'.
'Caravan to Obscurity' is out and available from Sick Happy Idle Records for the bargain price of £12.99 for this whopping collection of pop history.
http://www.sickhappyidle.com
for The Teenbeat, The Dirty Pins and The Lost Club
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