Song of the day – 268: The Notes (free download)
Awful name. As bad as Songs, or The Drums.
Great sound. Saturated to such a degree that I’m not even sure it’s a girl or boy singing*, not that it matters, and with steady minimal drums that fill in every fourth beat just when you think they won’t bother this time round. The echo is sullen. The harmonies are anything but. The guitar sound is very early Creation and pure Shop Assistants in places (in my heart, everything is pure Shop Assistants in places), and the feeling is rainy grey, melancholy but with the knowledge that there’s always something round the corner, a ray. Once, this would’ve been called… no, wait. I promised myself. No clues. What I particularly loved about the Mary Chain in 1984 was the fact they inspired so many other bands to start using the forgotten Velvet Underground/Ramones template, most of whom sounded way superior if only for a fleeting three-minute pop single (the best sort of three-minute pop single). The same applies to a certain female US band from the mid-2000s. Although they can hold their own, for sure.
I type all this listening for the first time to Southampton-via-London trio The Notes’ debut album Wishing Well, and thinking well perhaps The Loft had something going for them after all, but don’t tell McGee I admitted that. And if you follow the electronic trail you can download The Notes’ introductory free EP for, um, free. Here, have a listen. Apparently, they like Talulah Gosh and The Raincoats. Well, so do I! There’s a coincidence. Remind me to play you a tape one day of the time I covered ‘Just Like Honey’ with Shop Assistants backing, OK?
*It’s a girl.
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