Bevis Frond, The - Were Your Friends, Man '2018

Tracks list

 In 1987, Nick Saloman released his first homemade recordings as the Bevis
Frond, Inner Marshland and Miasma, a pair of albums that made him sound like the
most exciting new British artist of 1968. Time moves inexorably onward for the
rest of us, but Saloman is still deep in the throes of vintage psychedelia, and
2018s Were Your Friends, Man makes it clear he has no intention of being dragged
into the 21st century any time soon. If youve been following the Bevis Frond
over the past three decades, Were Your Friends, Man will hold few surprises for
you. The central focus of this music is still the looking-skyward murmur of
Salomans vocals, the gently trippy bent of his melodies, and the sheets of
gale-force guitar solos he lays over it all that invoke the spirits of Neil
Young and David Gilmour (at least when he isnt strumming his acoustic). Some
might bemoan the lack of expansive creative ambition in Salomans work, but the
truth is, he knows what works for him, and hes very good at it. Saloman and his
bandmates -- guitarist Paul Simmons, bassist Adrian Shaw, and drummer Dave
Pearce -- sound fresh and committed on Were Your Friends, Man, and while this
set stretches 20 tunes across two discs, nothing here sounds tossed off or meant
as filler. Salomans skills as a tunesmith and guitarist are in great shape, and
ones reaction to the extended soloing on tracks like Lead On (which runs eight
minutes) and Youre on Your Own (13 minutes!) might be a matter of taste, but if
you have a soft spot for the guitar heroes of the Golden Age of Psych, youre
almost certain to enjoy them. And while Salomans electric side dominates this
album, the acoustic-oriented Venom Drain, Little Orchestras, and Mad Love
confirm he knows how to maintain his focus at a lower volume. If youve ever
enjoyed the Bevis Fronds journey through the past, Were Your Friends, Man proves
that they (he?) havent lost a bit of their vision and skill, and while its hard
to say where one should start investigating the Bevis Fronds massive body of
work, this will give you the lay of the land just as well as most of their
albums.
:: TRACKLIST ::

1-1 Enjoy 6:08
1-2 Were Your Friends, Man 3:26
1-3 Pheromones 2:19
1-4 Lead On 8:16
1-5 In The Leaves 3:37
1-6 Little Orchestras 3:44
1-7 Growing 4:17
1-8 A Hard Way To Learn 2:44
1-9 Young Mans Game 3:42
1-10 Venom Drain 3:52

2-1 Theft 3:08
2-2 Gig Bag 2:15
2-3 I Was A Bird 3:13
2-4 Old Wives Tales 3:13
2-5 When You Cast Me Out 2:44
2-6 Birds Of Prey 2:43
2-7 And Relax... 4:27
2-8 The Steeple Doesnt Reach The Sky 3:27
2-9 Mad Love 4:45
2-10 Youre On Your Own 13:00

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