If Scotland's Aztec Camera were the poets of an era, and Orange Juice and Josef K the smart big brothers of Roddy Frame, then The Bluebells were the band the girls and mums liked. Blissfully tuneful, the group's tunes served up big melodies and a whole lot of heart. The group's only studio album, 1984's Sisters, is reissued today by Last Night From Glasgow and the record's never sounded brighter.
Mastered by Paul McGeechan (Love & Money, Starless), Sisters still rings with promise. "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" is a stormer, while "Young at Heart", a cover of a fantastic Bananarama number, is a ramble, a simple but boisterous charmer. If those two are the obvious hits here, "I'm Falling" and the string-soaked "Will She Always Be Waiting?" are more complex. On these, especially the Elvis Costello-produced "...Waiting", the Bluebells take a few chances, stretching in other directions, ones that indicate that the pop pleasures of the outfit were maybe more complex than we'd remembered when heard now. Of course "Cath" is here too, and dammit if that's still not one of the catchiest singles of the Eighties. Just a real gem.
The somber "Aim in Life" (produced by Elvis Costello) and the Motown-inspired "Learn to Love" are altogether different than the big singles here. Both prove just how capable this band was at tackling a mix of styles, though they're best remembered for the peppier singles, of course. And that makes somewhat jarring the band's cover of "The Patriot Game". Taken on its own, the track is tremendously affecting. And luckily it comes near the end of this version of Sisters because it's so serious as to be jarring. Thankfully, The Bluebells could do this, and "Cath", and do both extraordinarly well. The adeptness of this group at every style here is still wildly impressive, enough to make Sisters a perennial classic.
Sisters is out today via Last Night From Glasgow.
[Photo: Discogs]