One of those bands you may only know from their many compilation appearances back in the day, Glasgow's The Bachelor Pad made hyper-sharp psychedelic pop that suggested a blend of The Television Personalities and THe Fall at times. The group's brash, funny, and lyrical material is curated on a fine new one from Emotional Response called All Hash and Cock: The Very Best of The Bachelor Pad.
"Country Pancake" is loud and unruly, but "Girl of Your Dreams" is spry and catchy. It's a composition that seems to owe as much to any number of acts from the C86 era as well as Syd Barrett. "I Feel Sick" is feedback-drenched and rough, but "Jack and Julian" reminds me a tiny bit of the kind of thing we'd hear much later from Sultans of Ping FC and The Young Knives. Which is another way of saying that the material is silly at times, but still focused and precise.
The Bachelor Pad were adept at making shouty pop, but they couldn't quite shake the beat group-era trappings that gave this all a faintly Sixties vibe. "Meet the Lovely Jenny Brown" is a good example of what I'm talking about. It's right up there with early Dukes of the Stratosphear in its power to ape the Mod London stuff. Still, "I Want to Hold Your Head" suggests that at moments in their frenetic approach, The Bachelor Pad were able to satisfy all of their desires at once, and conjure up memorable DIY indie.
All Hash and Cock: The Very Best of The Bachelor Pad is out now via Emotional Response.
[Photo: Emotional Response Facebook page]