I'm So Hollow - Which Way...?

I'm So Hollow were a short-lived Sheffield post-punk band with a very limited catalog, some of which is really good in a Sheffield post-punk sort of way (think Artery, Clock DVA etc). Then again, some of it is awful. Fortunately there's little enough of it that it's easy to filter out the bad stuff.

This is a particularly enjoyable one from their lone album, 1981's Emotion/Sound/Motion.

Bear - Never Die

Bear is one of the many projects of Sheffielder Chris Trout, who used to be in AC Temple and also worked with Ian Masters in Spoonfed Hybrid. They put out a handful of albums in the late '90s and early '00s which I'd like to describe as "underrated" but in truth I think they mainly suffered from Bear themselves not really knowing what they wanted them to be. Lots of frustrated talent and potential in them, they're worth checking out though ultimately always a bit disappointing.

This was from an early (1995) self-titled EP.

The Comsat Angels - Gone

A great track from the Comsats' second album, Sleep No More, which never really received the acclaim it deserved. Probably because it was dark as hell. Hopefully they at least made a bit of money off this one when Martin Gore covered it for his Counterfeit EP.

From 1981.

Mrs Kipling - Hurts Me to Think

A pleasant enough little tune from a band who disappeared entirely after their one release, the 1993 7" Change on Sunday records. Kirsty McGee is now a solo folk singer.

Pulp - Love Is Blind

Here's a great track from Pulp's third album, Separations, released in 1992. It's Pulp at their flamboyant, exuberant best...and they were only getting started, really.

This is a fan video. Quite nicely done.

Clock DVA - 4 Hours

Sheffield's Clock DVA were part of that whole Throbbing Gristle/Cabaret Voltaire scene in the early 1980s. It wasn't really my thing, though I do think some of Cab Volt's stuff was amazing, and I kind of enjoyed this one too.

It's funny listening to it today though. You know how you listen back to some early punk and think, that used to be called punk? Well, this used to be called industrial. Hard to believe nowadays.

Pulp - Babies

In which a teenage Jarvis Cocker watches an older sister (note: not his) having sex, ends up having sex with said older sister, and gets caught in the act by the younger sister, who was the object of his affections all along. Oops. I think this is probably my favourite Pulp song ever.

Treebound Story - I Remember

Here's an early one from the band that Richard Hawley started off in, before going on to greater fame in Longpigs, Pulp and as a solo artist. Treebound Story only put out a few 12"s but they were quite good in a Mighty Lemon Drops sort of way.

This was their first single.

Pulp - Something Changed

A really underrated Pulp single, the last one from Different Class. It's basically just a simple straightforward love song, not necessarily the first thing you expect from Pulp.

Jilted John - Jilted John

This definitely falls into the "novelty act" category which I spoke disparagingly of a couple days ago, but I'll overlook that for the moment since I really enjoy this song. Besides, the lines were a bit blurrier in 1978.

I have nothing really to say about Jilted John aka John Shuttleworth aka Graham Fellows because I don't actually know anything else he's done, so I'll just let the song and video speak for themselves. It's worth watching for the backing characters (absurdly dressed guitarist + New Wave Bez) alone.

Heaven 17 - Let Me Go

Continuing in the nostalgia theme, here's one from right around the time I first started developing taste in music that I wouldn't be embarrassed to admit to later.

I was never a huge Heaven 17 fan. Most of their songs ranged from pleasant but uninspired ("We Live So Fast") to annoying ("Temptation") to downright creepy ("Come Live With Me"). I suppose they had good politics - we don't, after all, need that fascist groove thang - but you couldn't exactly say they did the most eloquent job of expressing them. I don't think they were awful or anything, but they were just kind of mediocre then and their music hasn't really improved with age.

As is so often the case, however, there is one shining exception. "Let Me Go" is a perfect piece of atmospheric early '80s synth-pop, with simple but surprisingly affecting lyrics over a subtle but infectious beat. When I was sneaking into dance clubs in the mid-to-late eighties it was the one song guaranteed to get even the hardest goth out on the floor. And, really, if you can't have a great time watching hard goths shake their thing to early-'80s-new-wave-techno-pop, you just can't enjoy life.

Nice video, too.

Artery - Afterwards

I bought my first Artery record because I liked the look of it. And the title (One Afternoon in a Hot Air Balloon). And the fact that it was on Red Flame, which is usually a good sign. This makes me, I think, one of maybe 12 people in the world who heard Artery before I heard Pulp. So I've never quite been able to join in the chorus of adulation for Jarvis & Co. I like them a lot, but I can't help thinking of them as having ripped off Artery's sound a bit. That may not be entirely fair.

Anyway, if you like Pulp there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't like Artery. This is from their debut release, Oceans.