Manchester's The Chameleons occupy a special place in terms of the great cult bands. Fans have a tendency to ludicrously eulogise them as among the very best British bands of the eighties and though I don't share that judgement, I came across their final four track EP yesterday and it, more than anything I've ever heard by them before, validates the claims of greatness made on their behalf.
They definitely slot in neatly among the brigade of long coated guitar bands that dominated alternative music for the first half of the eighties in England. This was fundamentally a Northern thing and much more of a literary and poetic movement than it's generally been credited for being. It's almost impossibly to talk about The Chameleons at any length without also mentioning Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and The Smiths, because The Chameleons share much of their attitude, outlook and self-belief but never quite developed the coherent identify to achieve the commercial and critical success that those four did.
These songs, recorded in 1987 but only released posthumously three years later, tell a tale of what might have been. The EP was titled Tony Fletcher Walks on Water, in honour of the band's manager whose untimely death led to the break up of the band. Staggering in its ambition and achievement, much of the record is reminiscent of Strangeways Here We Come, (I'd definitely say the mark of Johnny Marr is there, just listen to those chord changes), but the songs themselves are so blistering and wrought with emotion that I'd say any influence is transcended. It's a bold and remarkable closing statement!
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