If I put this on and told you it was recorded in 1989 and the band were on a few Sarah Records compilatons you'd believe me. No, Assistant are a young active trio from Brighton and they're all a good deal too young for that scenario. Still, the music on Certain Memories, their new record out this week, has the gentle ring of promise that the music of the best Sarah groups had.
Jonathan Shipley, Peter Simmons, and Anne Sophie Marsh pool their talents here for a release which offers moments that are precious amid the jangles and chimes of the familiar forms of indie-pop. This Brighton trio have a light touch, and a precision in terms of approach which are both pleasantly surprising attributes. "Raking Leaves" may earn comparisons to mid-period Go-Betweens, but "Jil is Fading" -- with Helen McCookerybook on vocals and melodica -- is agile and full of bright hooks. Assistant have crafted Certain Memories as a song-cycle of sorts about Jonathan's aging mother, Jil Shipley, the designer and illustrator. The record holds together thematically, even as the trio leap-frogs around within the genre. From the VU licks of "Derek Jarman", to the Felt-y "I'm So Much Better", Assistant earn those mental comparisons, but make the music all their own by serving up sharply-rendered compositions with little fluff.
Deftly blending what are probably obvious influences, Assistant sound like a band who've been around forever but which now just popped up on the radar. There's some truth to that given that the group recorded records and went away for 10 years. The backstory of the trio, and the underlying themes of the LP give Certain Memories a surprising weight. Still, the airy timelessness of what's on Certain Memories is a reminder of the best indie stuff you grew up playing and which you still play.
Certain Memories by Assistant is out now via Subjangle. Details via Bandcamp below.
[Photo: Assistant]