Five Thirty 'Abstain' (East West, 1990) (mp3)

Another "under-rated" band. Maybe that should be the name of this blog. Anyway, Five Thirty were short-lived purveyors of explosive mod-flavoured, gently baggy pop in the early 1990s.

I saw them live in a small venue supporting someone (long since forgotten who) and they were pure energy. Frontman Tara Milton was a Bolan-esque androgynous tart spitting out the songs and massaging his bass frantically.

Song-writing and lead vocal duties in Five Thirty were shared with guitarist Paul Bassett who was decidedly more straightforward. 'You' is one of Bassett's songs and it's a super-charged and highly melodic pop song with a strident groove, some John Squire guitar frills and a tip of the hat to The Who and The Small Faces. It hurtles towards a explosion of pedal abusing noise and disintegrates into squall. Did I mentioned The Who?

Five Thirty worked hard to break-through but it never quite happened. 'You' was re-released as an a-side but still failed to make headway. After one fine album - 'Bed' - they split.

Download Five Thirty 'You' (mp3) (Mediafire)