Gallon Drunk - Some Fool's Mess (Clawfist, 1991)

Based around the singular vision of James Johnston, Gallon Drunk (still trucking today) emerged into the same 'lurching' scene as Th' Faith Healers, Breed and Moonshake. Gallon Drunk had a distinctly more (darkly) showbiz approach, as evidenced by their garish sleeve collages. Their live shows were like some kind of twisted, violent cabaret where the singer seemed to try to sing, play guitar and organ all at the same time, like some kind of Brylcreemed octopus. It was an utterly compelling spectacle though.

'Some Fool's Mess' jump starts with a startling Duane Eddy riff and a drunken, late-night swagger. The band tear into town and lay down a heavy beat, a marracca pulse and a leering, yelping vocal comes in over the sleazy, climbing bass riff. It's a hurtling mass of sound that recalls The Birthday Party's seedy underbelly jive (Johnston was to actually become a Bad Seed for a time during a hiatus in Gallon Drunk activities) or The Shadows after a spell in borstal and a heavy night on cheap speed and nail polish.

As the song progresses, the playing gets more and more urgent, dissolving ultimately into spent clatter as the instruments conk out.

Irresistable.

Download Gallon Drunk 'Some Fool's Mess' (mp3) (Rapidshare)

Th' Faith Healers 'S.O.S.' (Clawfist Singles Club, 1994)

Another Clawfist Singles Club goodie. This time a split between Th' Faith Healers and Mambo Taxi called 'Th' Faith Healers & Mambo Taxi Go Abba'.

Mambo Taxi's contribution is an acquired taste from the sometimes good, sometimes bad shamblers. Their take on 'Super Trouper' sounds like Courtney Love has just woken up in rehab after a particularly arduous world tour and someone thrust a microphone into her bleary face. Or maybe it's Phoebe Buffet after six years of homelessness and crystal meth abuse. I can't decide.

Anyway, that all just serves to make Th' Faith Healers' searing take on 'S.O.S.' sound all the more vital and incisive.

Th' Faith Healers were peers of the awesome Moonshake on the mighty Too Pure label and their track opens with a bass-heavy rotation, Roxanne's controlled but yearning vocals setting the tone before the rolling, monster truck of dirge sound is applied to the Abba classic. It works surprisingly well with a lovely, counter melody being picked out on the second guitar and some nice bits of what sounds like mobile phone interference (in 1994?).

It clatters, rumbles and shakes its way through to a climax, fading away in a shronk of guitar.

Download Th' Faith Healers 'S.O.S.' (mp3, Rapidshare)

Tindersticks 'We Have All The Time In The World' (Clawfist Singles Club, 1993)

Tindersticks have veered between austere, filmic beauty and seedy, lovelorn balladry across a career that now spans almost twenty years.

'We Have All The Time In The World' is one side of a Clawfist Singles Club seven-inch (Gallon Drunk's Terry Edwards had the other side) and it manages to embody both facets of the band in one track. Graced with sweeping strings, it features one of Stuart Staples' less - how can I say this politely - in-tune vocal performances. He isn't all over the shop and it isn't unpleasant to listen to. Indeed, it somehow it suits the performance of the song, adding a lovelorn, broken edge that suits the reality of how the song appears in the James Bond film it's from.

As the song ends, Tindersticks' own take on the James Bond theme kicks in.

Download Tindersticks 'We Have All The Time In The World' (mp3, Mediafire)

The best Clawfist Singles Club page I could find on the web.

Breed 'Hard Cash' (Peel Session, 1991)

Breed were an amazing three-piece band from Liverpool who deserved much greater recognition for their brooding, beautiful music and tales of sordid lives.

Contemporaries of Gallon Drunk and taking in influences like Beefheart, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Tom Waits, their drummer went on to be in Placebo, having been the original drummer in The Boo Radleys, and singer/songwriter Simon Breed has re-emerged as a solo artist in the last few years. However, the magic between the members of the original Breed line-up is palpable and they were an awesome live band.

'Hard Cash' is set beneath the sodium halo of a red light district and moods its way in on gentle cymbals before a resonant bass pushes slowly forward. Simon Breed's evocative words tell of the aftermath of the death of a 'street worker', aggressive, uncaring officers making enquiries deep into the night, uncomfortable with their visit to the city's underbelly.

The music is a rolling, almost bluesy shuffle, swelling into a raucous lurch and subsiding again. Entrancing.

Download Breed 'Hard Cash (Peel Session, 1991) (mp3)