Has someone cool got an uncle who went into a coma in about July 1988? Because, in Oxford especially, the cool kids seem to be making music that is, not so much generically retro, as deliberately mimetic of this precise period: it’s as if the movers, shakers and Tumblrati were preparing a sonic welcoming committee for somebody’s putative return to consciousness. This EP (not explicitly released under the Oxonian People’s Front moniker of Blessing Force, but with links to Trophy Wife and Rhosyn, so it’s as near as dammit) is almost comically exact in its recreation of the post-synth pre-rave pop of ’88 and ’89, and yet is, unexpectedly, pretty great.
Limbo Kids – no, sorry, LIMBO\\KIDS, as the record artwork would have it; why have designers started approaching their keyboards like drunken schizophrenics from the seventeenth century, and when the hell will new band names stop looking like swearwords from Asterix? – feature James Hitchman from Alphabet Backwards, and continue his recent quest to reduce pop music to one single, all-engulfing vocal hook. His part on ‘Heartshots’ is so simple, it makes Alphabet Backwards’ ‘Blink Of An Eye’ sound like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, but it’s woven so well over a funky-ish drummer and fruity organ rhythm that the track doesn’t sound simplistic. There are strong hints of late ’80s dancefloor monsters like Jellybean Benitez and even Betty Boo in the backing, but the elegant placement of the vocal lines makes this a surprisingly satisfying piece, capable of inspiring multiple listens. It should be a hollow pastiche, but emerges against all the odds as an enjoyable song.
The track ‘Wanderlust’ runs tearfully from the club to a draughty teenage garret, but is equally spotless in its vintage, sounding a lot like one of the more melancholic tracks from Prefab Sprout’s From Langley Park To Memphis. Again, there’s not much material here to play with, but it’s so artfully put together that it feels like a weighty statement, not a sonic souffle. Rose Dagul’s funeral cortege cello is absolutely perfect in its stately sadness, and we love the ghostly, well-kempt goth air of the lightly reverbed drum machine.
Sadly, the final track breaks the spell somewhat. ‘Desire’ isn’t dire, but the vocals suddenly sound drab and wheedling, and the whole piece sounds like a pretty dull bit of album track studio confectionary: there’s a reason why Climie Fisher have been forgotten, you know. Still, we’ll forgive this one misstep if it means we can enjoy the gorgeous cultivated misery of ‘Wanderlust’ again.
Oh, welcome back, uncle. Did you sleep well? Yes, Dr Who is still on telly, but we’d better have a chat about Jimmy Saville…