100 Greatest Songs of the 90’s #86 Trashcan Sinatras – Obscurity Knocks

Released : 1990

Not everyone under 25 was a pill gobbling spider monkey in Britain at the beginning of the 90’s, but you’ll find it difficult to unearth much evidence to the contrary now. True, hundreds of thousands of kids were hell bent on a government-petrifying way of weekend life involving repetitive beats and a diet solely of disco biscuits and H₂O, but music for tunnels and warehouses still had it’s time and place.

The Trashcan Sinatras were one of bands that got away during this period, probably because whatever anyone says, the meek have very little chance of inheriting the earth. From the rock n’ roll hangout that is Irvine, their debut album Cake was a minor classic, a permanently overlooked treasure trove of wry wordplay and melodies to absolutely die for.

It helped – enormously – that they came across as the winsome successors to Aztec Camera at their High Land, Hard Rain pomp, lines like “And though I ought to be learning I feel like a veteran/Of “oh, I like your poetry but I hate your poems”/Calendars crumble, I’m knee deep in numbers/I’ve turned 21, I’ve twist, I’m bust and wrong again” exorcising the despair of those stuck a million miles from strobe lights and the ecstacy wash. This was brilliant comedown music for those who could never face getting up.