Legendary Indie outsiders Comet Gain are back with the bands latest album Letters To Ordinary Outsiders that features the current line-up of David Christian, Ben Phillipson, Rachel Evans, Robin Christian, Anne Laure Guillain and James Hornsey, the album was produced by Sean Read.
The album opens with a spoken word intro to The Ballad Of The Lives We Led that takes an insistent piano line to aid the reflections on exactly how they've got by over the years, the day jobs, the night jobs, the adventures, how do you find time for your own dreams, is it safer to just stay at home, avoiding the awful mundanity surrounding you, what ever you do though never call her Rach, that's not her name.
If They Can't Find The Way Then There's No Way Out asks all sorts of existential questions, about how you navigate the perils of life, do you drown yourself in drink and drugs, or just find other crutches, over the sophisticated brass led indie-pop.
Beat Of The Veins has a knowing intro that references the Lou Reed's Primitives, before this organ led belter urges us to do everything you can to make sure you can feel the beat Of The Veins rushing through you, keep that vitality you need to survive all the danger around us.
We Were Paintermen is in tribute to all the small bands they went through, to become who they are now, without referencing The Creation or Torme who made Painter Man such anthem even Boney M mauled it into disco magnificence. They want to be in love and fall in love.
Threads! Is not about social media but putting your jumpers down as goal posts and other alternate uses for your Threads, no matter if you shop on Carnaby Street of Camden Market or the High St they don't care, as long as you look good in those Threads! The dirty sax denotes how cool you look done up like that.
Yeah, I Know It's A Wonderful Life, But There's Always Further To Fall has Rachel on lead vocals for this slow thoughtful song, that can be as much about personal falls from grace, as the fall into madness of our current times, how do you really know you've hit rock bottom, if your still breathing then you can always find a way to fall even further into the morass.
Do You Remember 'The Lites On The Water' well do you, and if you do how did they affect you, is it a happy memory of seeing those Harbour lights, they wonder how on earth they are still alive, over sparsely beautiful jangle pop, cool backing vocals over the sustaining organ fills.
Danbury Road is about driving past the house of one of your first cool friends, who you haven't seen in decades and wondering if they are still in the childhood home, or even still alive, do you still have those marvel comics and bootlegs. The keyboards have been at his Brian Auger albums for sure.
Buildings takes us on a tour, of places they remember and the adventures good bad and evil that happened in those buildings that have been torn down, the brass is defiantly downbeat to compliment the lyrics, the drama of divorces and flight from London to pastures less hectic.
Hearts Of Scars is for everyone who can't bear to read the papers anymore, in a world gone to hell, all we are left with is cool indie songs to sing along with, to ease our aching Hearts And Scars.
Ashtray Cult gives praise to the culture that brought us the mighty Comet Gain and all the other bands who saved our lives with the spirit of Rock & Roll, all those friends who can sing along to Captain Beefheart's Ashtray Heart, in this infectious indie rock world they inhabit playing at The Garage on Saturday nights before the super messy club while they have a guitar rave up.
Maybe One Day It'll Really Happen and Comet Gain will be selling out arenas and songs like this will be in heavy rotation on BBC6 Music, that and other dreams and aspirations for how to make a far happier world than the one we are currently stuck in, they want to escape and who can blame them.
Find out more at https://shop.tapeterecords.com/comet-gain-letters-to-ordinary-outsiders-4335 https://www.facebook.com/cometgain https://comet-gain.bandcamp.com/album/letters-to-ordinary-outsiders
