Friday, January 16, 2009

The Great Lost Gem of "Brit Pop"

Cast's "Alright"*

"Brit Pop." How I hated that word. But then again I've always been against labeling or pigeonholing. Unless I was tired or lazy and grasping for shorthand to explain a band's sound or milieu. When the "Brit Pop" flash in the pan that gave rise to Oasis and validated Blur is now examined some dozen years on, Cast invariably gets short shrift.

What a mistake! I'll gladly put All Change track for track up against any other "Brit Pop" release out in 1995. Pulp. Suede. Oasis. Supergrass. Blur. (OK, maybe not Elastica because I still hold a major unrequited crush on Justine Frischmann -- pay no mind). Cast's John Leckie-produced debut sounds great today.

I spent a lotta time with Cast on their first US tours. Being Liverpudlians, it was like hanging out with the Beatles' kids. I spent so much one-on-one time with the band over that stretch that by the time they headed home I had picked up their dialect's trademark lilt. It wore off, not in a fortnight, but in about in ten days time.

I don't have to try very hard to I hear John Power, in the Back of My Mind, saying, "Anacher, la..."

-AF
*Those brilliant fuckers at Universal still won't allow video embeds.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh boy, does this bring back good memories!