How many bands are now viewed in time’s rear view mirror as one hit wonders who really weren’t? Saddled with the legacy of Young At Heart, The Bluebells have appeared on over 200 compilations since it’s first release in 1983, but as the episodes on them in the excellent Classic Scottish albums podcast reveals, there’s much more to the story than a single tune.
Out of the same Sound of Young Scotland milieu as Aztec Camera, Altered Images and Orange Juice, like their peers the Glaswegians never made any secret of seeking a wider audience and duly signed to a major in preparation for recording their debut album Sisters.
Even in a probably over expanded format and with four decades of hindsight, they were clearly a little too sophisticated for a market already becoming dominated by synth wielding former New Romantics and post-post-punk poptimists. The hits – I’m Falling, Cath, that one – are obviously present and still gorgeous, but there’s no filler here, from left leaning treatises on Falklands era jingosim (The Patriot Game, South Atlantic Way) to soul infused notions such as Learn To Love which will have given Paul Weller something to think about.
Stuck between U2 and Big Country on one side and The Smiths on the other, the space around The Bluebells became rapidly squeezed and they split in 1986. Sisters is ample proof that the rest of this excellent album has long deserved to step out from it’s biggest hit’s shadow.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 