During the Eighties, when she was at Sussex University, my sister briefly followed the fortunes of latest Creation Record signings Blow Up. They were pretty much the quintessential Indie also rans. Taking their name from the most Sixties film you could think of, they yearned back to that decade, probably wore hooped Breton style tops and definitely put out a few unremarkable records on Creation Records that only the hardest of hard line fanatics remember.
Fortunately, for those like my sister and I with memories of them, they didn't vanish entirely without trace. Their drummer Billy Reeves, who also formed Congregation and wrote songs for Sophie Ellis Bextor and The Audience, is having a strange and interesting second act afterlife, and has a new and rather splendid solo album out called Nostalgia of the Future.
Reeves is clearly something of a London journeyman. a jack of all trades who does occasional travel and football reports for London local radio.
Here he catalogues all the yesterdays of anyone who grew up in London and the South East. Afternoons spent in local parks. On the sidelines of football pitches or going for country walks or looking through the singles of second hand record shops trying to track down David McWilliams records and chatting to the shop owner behind the counter who knows what you're looking for and everything that you need to know about it.
This is an incredibly evocative record that those that follow the fortunes of Luke Haines and Pete Astor might enjoy. Rather reminiscent of some of the more interesting moments of Britpop actually. Reeves has that faux cockney talking, singing voice that reminds you of Terrence Stamp, Steve Marriot and Damon all at once. It seems appropriate for Autumn really, as the days grow shorter and we tend towards wistfulness. But I'm more than grateful for it now with Spring in full bloom.
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