Many folk of a certain age will recall the NME’s 1989 charity compilation video “Carry On Disarming”. One of the standout tracks was The Bachelor Pad’s “Country Pancake” – a riotous assault which fondly recalled the energy of early C86-era Soup Dragons singles with a large slice of lysergic cake thrown into the mix and just enough discordant Sonic Youth style noise to create something truly exciting.
The Bachelor Pad were once described as “Syd Barrett singing for Buzzcocks” and that neatly sums up many of the songs found within this excellent compilation. A Syd era Pink Floyd balanced with a head rush of POP!
The band hailed from Glasgow and shone brightly but briefly between 1987 and 1991. Their original releases were spread over three labels-totalling five singles, one flexidisc and one frankly schizophrenic LP (The Tales Of Hofmann). This long awaited retrospective is at last a great way to hear their best moments in one place and provides a welcome reminder of their greatness.
It’s packed with insanely catchy hooks, full on feedback and punk energy all interspersed with a playful psychedelic vibe which probably only The Groove Farm were also doing so successfully at the time. There’s some contrast to the frantic pace though with a couple of songs digging deeper into sixties territory and bringing to mind The Creation and The Kinks. The Bachelor Pad are one of those bands which you can imagine were immense fun to be a part of and all these years later they make the perfect antidote to the lockdown blues.
Buy this record, play it loud and remember – DO IT FOR FUN!
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