BRIGHTER NOW

Among the myriad of cassette-only releases that came out of the LPDs first couple of active years, Brighter Now doesn't seem like an obvious candidate to become the band's debut LP, but that is exactly what happened (both the Chemical Playschool 3+4 and Apparition date from the same period and are far supperior). And it happened on the same label that gave us the Marine Girls! Remember them? Not? Anyways... The sound on Brighter Now is very minimal. Obscure hand-held percussion and busy bass guitars patterns carry many of the (rather rudimentary) songs, some of which you might find yourself singing along to already on second listen. That goes especially for the opening Red Castles and the haunting City Ghosts, but on tracks like Apocalypse Then and Louder After Six the Dots sound unconfindent and unfocused. Many of the things that makes the LPDs so greated are sorely absent from this release; the askew chord sequences, the majestic soundscapes, the impossible-to-ignore vocal delivery. Ka-Spel wears his heart on the sleeve on the instantly memorable The Wedding, but the piano backing is basic in a way that comes across as amateurish rather than minimalist. To this day it seems that the LPDs give their early cassettes equal status to the early LP releases, but to me it is frustrating that the record that is generally perceived to be the band's debut album doesn't contain early LPD classics like Defeated, Voices or the amazing The Light in My Little Girl's Eyes. Brighter Now kept me away from the other Dot's releases for many years. It's still a good record, though. It's only in the light of later releases from this great band that I find Brighter Now a bit disappointing.

I have never told anyone this, but for some reason I think of early Status Quo when I hear this record. You know that one with Pictures of Matchstick Men on it. And that's a compliment!

Which one's Pink?

It is debatable whether this was the legendary Pink Dots debut album, or whether "Only dreaming", released a year earlier, should bear that accolade. "Only dreaming" was initially a cassette only album limited to ten (yes ten) copies all with different sleeves. There have been several re-releases since, but each has had a very restricted production run, although the tracks have become available on other compilations.

The 1982 album "Brighter now" was also a limited print cassette only release to begin with, but has since appeared in LP and CD format. As such, it is considered by many to be the band's first commercially available album.

Formed in 1980, the band also tested the water with a number of other cassette only releases before recording this album which surfaced in 1982. Initial releases of this album had just six tracks, but the much more widely available CD on which this review is based has nine tracks in total.

There is a naivety to the music here which makes it endearing if not captivating. There are suggestions of Barrett era Pink Floyd (especially on the opening "Red castles" and on "Apocalypse Then"), the early Moody Blues, and even dare I say the 1960's Bee Gees. The songs are essentially pop based, but their arrangements make them more interesting than they might otherwise be. "Louder after 6" for example has a diverting instrumental sound and imaginative vocal styles. At times the music is pared right back, "The wedding" being a simple piano and vocal soliloquy with a piano melody which sounds quasi-classical.

The most obvious aspect of this album is the rudimentary nature of the songwriting skills. The songs are as a rule decidedly average, and are only saved by the pleasant nature of their overall sound. This is not an album which will stand up to repeated listening. Its main function therefore is to introduce us to a band who may not have become legendary but who certainly released a great number of albums.