PJ Bond - You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical

I've put this record on for the first time in a very long time and I'm enjoying it far more than I remember thinking I did. I think when I bought it I was massively underwhelmed and probably never gave it the chance to grow on me. At least I'm realising it now.

I first heard PJ Bond when he played CMC at Fest 2011 and it was a pretty lovely set (CMC is one of the hidden treats at Fest as far as venues go). A few weeks later he was playing in Kingston along with Great Cynics and Into It. Over It (and Broadway Calls, who I don't particularly care for. For £2 more than buying the ticket you could buy the ticket plus a copy of the Broadway calls EP Banquet were putting out so I went for that option. The record isn't one I play often). I had a nice time watching PJ Bond again and picked up this LP at the end of the night.

Upon first listen it wasn't what I expected - on record PJ Bond comes across much more like a folk musician than he does live. Or maybe it's because I've only ever seen him on punk bills that I assumed there'd be stronger hints of punk than folk? Anyway, the songs are nice and it's definitely the sort of album I could put on in the background when people are round (I've realised recently that I have very little music that fits this situation). "Good background music" is hardly the highest praise for a record but there's a time and a place for it. There are some strong highlights though - Stop Being Bad (despite the slightly cringe-worthy lyrics), Grow Your Smile Wide, You Know the Drill and No Theme Summer (which is possibly my favourite).

It's been good listening to this record critically after a while of not hearing it - a lot of good has shone through and I suspect I'll be listening to it more often now. Who knows, in a few months it might be my new favourite record.

Format: 12", a4 insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £10 new
Bought: gig
When: 08/12/11
Colour: Blue
Etching: None
mp3s: Download

Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground

Another day, another Chuck Ragan record. Covering Ground is his third studio album and a pretty strong one at that. With his last three albums (so all of them except Feast or Famine, which I've loved since the first time I heard it) I'm finding that they don't blow me away on first listen but over the months and years more and more of the songs stand out as being excellent songs and the album gradually changes from being a solid Chuck Ragan LP to being an incredible one. It happened with Gold Country, it's happened here and I can already see it happening with Til Midnight. It's strange that Feast or Famine grabbed me so instantly when the rest take much longer.

Highlights are Nothing Left to Prove, Nomad By Fate and Meet You in the Middle but there are plenty of other great songs too. There are a couple of slower ones that don't grab me so much but they don't take away from the record. It's a nice package too - gatefold sleeve and a huge poster with the lyrics in the newspaper-style layout. Strangely, there's a gap of (mostly) silence between Lost and Found and the "hidden" track, Camaraderie of the Commons, which is something you don't see so often these days; I thought silent gaps before hidden songs was a thing of the late-90's but clearly I was wrong (or maybe it's because I don't buy cds that often anymore). Still the extra song is a nice surprise and great despite having to move the needle to get to it.

Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, 24x12" poster
Tracks: 10
Cost: £14 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 14/09/11
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: Download code

The Ex - Catch My Shoe

The Ex were quite possibly the highlight of the Shellac-curated All Tomorrow's Parties in 2012. The line-up was quite strong, but we mostly went because Shellac are awesome and because they have an excellent taste in music; there were loads of bands we'd never heard of, but they came with Shellac's stamp of approval which counts for a great deal. In the end, we saw some of nearly every set that weekend. It was tiring but rewarding. On the final night we went over to the main room to see The Ex + Brass Unsound without any idea of what to expect, but they blew us away.

The Ex are a Dutch punk band who have been around for more than 30 years. In that time they've released countless albums and experimented with a lot of sounds. The fact that a punk band (probably) in their 50's can still impress me as much as punk band in their 20's says something about how good they are. I've since seen them two more times and they never fail to impress me. I bought this copy of Catch My Shoe from the singer at the merch table when they supported Neutral Milk Hotel after the whole Jabberwocky clusterfuck.

[Side note: I was hugely looking forward to ATP's Jabberwocky festival in 2014 - the highlights for me were NMH, Electric Wizard, Jesu, Caribou and The Ex. At some point I'd jokingly said to a friend "I'd pay £35 to see any two of those bands" which, ironically, was what ended up happening - a few days before the festival ATP cancelled the whole event and promoters scrambled to put the bands on elsewhere in London. Someone booked NMH and The Ex together in The Forum and I for one was incredibly pleased (especially since The Ex were going to be playing on the day I didn't have ticket for so would have missed anyway). As it happened, the NMH performance was by far the best I saw that year (of the four NMH shows I went to). I think the last-minute nature brought a slightly different crowd and people went mad for it. I loved seeing both bands and had a nice chat to the singer from The Ex at the end.]

Digging into the back-catalogue of The Ex isn't trivial in this country and I very rarely see their records meaning that I still only have this album and the double-cd of their 30-year anniversary best-of compilation. I therefore can't speak for the majority of their albums, but I do know that I absolutely adore this album. It's a punk record yet most of the songs hover around the 6-minute mark. Their incredibly eclectic musical backgrounds are evident throughout - the excellent riff on Maybe I Was the Pilot comes from a Ugandan harp player and Eoleyo is an Ethiopian song. There may only be nine songs but they're all excellent and I had vivid memories of most of them being played live across all three times I've seen the band. Particular highlights for me are Maybe I Was the Pilot, Double Order, Cold Weather is Back, Tree Float and Keep on Walking which I realise is the majority of the record; that's how great Catch My Shoe is.

I can't recommend The Ex strongly enough, which I have to do because they are largely unknown in the circles I move in, despite the fact that most people I know who like punk/alternative music would lap this up. I wonder how many years would have passed before someone introduced The Ex to me? Suffice to say, I'm pretty grateful to Shellac for doing that job.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 9
Cost: £9 new
Bought: gig
When: 15/08/14
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: no