I worked in a couple of record stores from 1987 to 1990 and I certainly tried to keep track of the British music press in those days. Usually, I read about a band long before I ever heard them. And I can remember how, in a superficial way, The Darling Buds were pushed as sort of the next Primitives, even when The Primitives hadn't even broken big yet. Sure, both bands had pretty blonde singers and both had songs clearly inspired by Sixties pop, but the similarities really ended there if you listened closely. It was clear pretty quickly just how robust was the sound of this Newport, Wales group, and how much these players were taking inspiration from Blondie and The Jesus & Mary Chain, more than Tracy Tracy and her mates may have been too.
In a similar way, this extraordinary new box-set from Cherry Red Records aims to set the record straight once and for all, placing the Buds' sound in its own context. Darling Buds: Killing For Love, Albums, Singles, Rarities, Unreleased 1987-2017 collects nearly everything from Andrea Lewis and her crew. The wealth of material here is sort of staggering, and while I've spent time with the band's three studio albums over the last few decades following the band's dissolution (and reunion), it's the bonus cuts here that really provide new angles from which to view this group's efforts.
Disc One covers The Native Years with early versions of familiar tunes just bursting out of the speakers. "Burst (Early Version)" is gloriously rough, but layered with feedback and Andrea's sublime vocals, while "Valentine" crashes forward on riffs that suggest a listen or two to "Never Understand" by The Jesus & Mary Chain. And while there's lots here that sounds like what we'd get on Pop Said a bit later, the three 1987 demos recorded with Jon Langford (The Mekons) are reveletory and wonderful. "Shame on You" roars with promise, a debt owed to early Blondie obvious here, while "Mary's Got to Go" flies forward with a lot of energy. "Just to Be Seen", the last of the three 1987 demos, is breathy and punk-y. These selections and the other early rarities reveal an approach which was refined a bit by the time the group recorded a full-length album, and one hears a sound that was eventually almost subdued too much for Pop Said.
Listening to Pop Said on Disc Two makes me reach for an Andrea (as she was billed then) vs. Tracy Tracy comparison, and hopefully my last one. I can see why folks pushed the similarities, but to me, even in 1989, the differences were stark. Where Tracy favored a vocal style that seemed almost icy and removed from the emotions of the tunes, Andrea really poured herself into her material. "Let's Go Round There", for example, has real attitude to it, enough that one could never imagine this being a Primitives song, you know? There's something almost Runaways-ish about this one, and the tune still has a lot of heft. "Hit the Ground" and "Burst" are classic singles, nods to The Ramones and (of course) Blondie heard in the hooks here. What Pop Said did so very well was reaffirm the delights of concise pop. And that was no mean feat to do in a moment when grunge was percolating here in the States, and things were getting increasingly baggy in the U.K. The Darling Buds saw no shame in delivering songs that all sounded like singles, and even now the album almost plays like a greatest hits compilation.
Crawdaddy from 1990 was more of a mixed bag for me. Produced by Stephen Street, the album is both a bit polished and evidence of a band yearning for bigger audiences. I do not begrudge the band for doing that, for broadening their sound. And having seen them in 1991 in D.C. on the Crawdaddy tour, I can attest to their fantastic capabilities as a live band in that era. I can still remember their fiery cover of New Order's "Temptation" as an encore, but I still don't think so much of that energy is in the grooves of Crawdaddy. That said, "It Makes No Difference", the album opener, stands as one of the group's best, most effective compositions. "Crystal Clear" and "Tiny Machine" are still decent singles, and both are heard in multiple versions here on this third disc of Darling Buds: Killing For Love, Albums, Singles, Rarities, Unreleased 1987-2017.
For some reason, the more polished material worked very well for me on 1992's Erotica. The band's last full-length album to date served up some real gems. And, honestly, how great a tune is "Sure Thing"? This one seems to offer one of Andrea's best vocal performances ever, while the guitars and drums are relentless. That one, and lead single "Please Yourself" are nearly triumphantly assured. I can remember thinking in 1992 how at ease the band sounded compared to what was on Crawdaddy. As a fan from 1989, I really thought that the sound here was going to be enough to get this band major attention in the States, but no. As the liner notes from Lois Wilson explain, demos for Erotica were done with Peter Holsapple (The dB's), and I wish some of those were here. Still, the album stands as a superb blend of the hooks of the group's early years with a sharper, more mainstream production applied. It works though.
The final disc of Darling Buds: Killing For Love, Albums, Singles, Rarities, Unreleased 1987-2017 contains a bunch of rare tracks, including the full Evergreen EP from 2017. Early demo "Honeysuckle" is absolutely superb, and the live cuts from 1992 provide evidence of how great these folks were in a club setting. What's really to be treasured here are the three tracks that are demos for what the Buds hoped would be album number four. "Perfect Pain" is crunchy, an update of the early singles' sound with a lot of attitude. One can hear here the same sort of approach that a band like Sleeper would later aim for too. It's aces, as is "Drag King", another showcase for Andrea's emotive voice. The band's skills were still as sharp as ever on Evergreen, and thankfully that 2017 reunion release is here too.
Darling Buds: Killing For Love, Albums, Singles, Rarities, Unreleased 1987-2017 is essential. There's so much here that I can't see how anyone who's a fan of indie-pop could even think of ignoring this set. The Darling Buds did so much, in so many different eras, that their music still retains a vitality and freshness that appeals on more than just a nostalgic level. The Darling Buds valiantly pushed their material in new directions, and aimed for the big time on their three major-length releases. And, yeah, the sound is big, and very clean on their second and third albums. One can hear an indie act really putting their ambition into action. Audiences here were too busy with metal and grunge to pay much attention, but some of us were fans. And some of us remain fans.
I'm so happy that this set collects so very much. The output of The Darling Buds was uniformly class, with tunes that are as bright and catchy as ever. I think for some of you, you're going to be pleasantly surprised at how well this holds up. For lots of us though, we never stopped playing our Darling Buds discs and records, and this set proves why we were so loyal to this Newport band in the first place.
Darling Buds: Killing For Love, Albums, Singles, Rarities, Unreleased 1987-2017 is out now via Cherry Red Records.
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