235) Longpigs - The Sun Is Often Out

What have Joe Strummer, Pulp, and Natalie Imbruglia got in common? They have all been involved with The Longpigs is the obvious answer with their bassist Simon Stafford in The Mescaleros, Richard Hawley playing with Pulp and Crispin Hunt writing songs for Imbruglia. Clearly talented men.

We have a certain band from the Britpop era dominating everything now, I had no desire to get tickets, enjoy if you did, but I’d certainly be up for a ticket if The Longpigs reformed. I imagine I wouldn’t have to be on my computer for hours on end to secure a ticket, ah the injustice of the music world.

The Sun is Often Out their debut release back in 1996 and was a respectable top thirty hit.

Lost Myself opens the record with a gentle guitar and drums and Crispin also gently croons then we hit the chorus, and Hawley decides to visit riff central, and each member decides to go up a notch, magic.

She Said was the hit and should have been even bigger than it was and remembered as one of the best singles of 1996, it stormed along back then and still does now and just as you think it done, it come back again, guess what, magic.

Far is a bit of a 60’s sounding jingle that would have not been out of place on The La’s album before we go into the sublime On & On which helped the band find a voice in America and is one of those earnest ballads with a rough edge.

Hawley shows his guitar chops that we all know so well now on Happy Again, I would love him to let rip on one of his wonderful records like he does here and the lovely All Hype rounds off a flawless side one.

Sally Dances shows that the catchiness of She Said was not a one off. Hunt uses his falsetto to pronounced effect on many of these songs, but it feels a bit stretched on Jesus Christ although it’s still a good heavy song with just the right amount of aggression. You cannot fault the track listing as Dozen Wicked Words grants us respite over a solid beat and just listen to Hawley tinkering in the background.

Elvis, we have Hunt throwing the lyrics out there before the band up the ante and he more than matches them before the band go off again and then they all take it back down, bizarre but brilliant to be honest. I never saw them live but I would imagine the audience went off to this one.

Over Our Bodies is the sort of song that should soar out over Wembley Stadium next year and Sleep shows us where Hawley was going to go with his music and Hunt judges his pitch exactly right.

As I said earlier, no justice, if there was Oasis would be supporting The Longpigs next year. Please enjoy this record.

9/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: She Said