Those Unfortunates Press
THOSE UNFORTUNATES – The Servant single review – October 3rd 2016
Another week, another very fine release from Stereogram Recordings, the second Edinburgh based independent label featured this week.
The new single The Servant / Saturday by Those Unfortunates came out on Friday, hot on the heels of the London four-piece’s last effort, Letter Writing Man.
The Servant takes its inspiration from the 1963 British film of the same name that starred Dirk Bogarde and James Fox, and the band (Ben Brill, Magnus Alanko, Henry Bird & Seb Brennan) also cite a number of cult London authors such as Alexander Baron, Patrick Hamilton and Colin MacInnes as influences – and if you only know MacInnes through that dreadfully over-hyped Julien Temple adaptation from thirty years ago, don’t let that put you off his novels. They also, as you can see below, have a thing for Malcolm McDowell, the star of A Clockwork Orange and my probably my favourite ever British film, If.
Their songs has been aired on a bunch of BBC 6 Music shows, including Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson, the latter describing them as ‘daft and irresistible… [with] the lightness of touch and complete assurance found among all genuine Great British Eccentrics.’
Those Unfortunates aim for the wit and warmth of The Kinks, Television Personalities and Syd Barrett and they say of The Servant: ‘It’s three minutes of feedback, weirdy atmosphere and screaming… We are dead proud of it.’
So they should be.
There’s no video as yet for The Servant but here is a promo for Letter Writing Man, the third of their singles and their first on Stereogram. An album will follow in 2017.
MANIC POP THRILLS
Alternative (sic) music of the last 30 years
WHAT’S IN THE SINGLES BOX? (OCTOBER 2016)
October 21, 2016 by manicpopthrills in Singles
Rather improbably there’s a few singles either just out or about to be released that are worthy of your attention.
So let’s start with the two that are out there already.
First up are Those Unfortunates, not quite the latest signings to Edinburgh’s Stereogram label, and their second single for the label ‘The Servant’.
‘The Servant’ takes Stereogram firmly back to melodic post punk territory and it’s probably the song that’s the closest in spirit to the label’s godfathers, the Cathode Ray. It’s a song that boasts the melodic sensibility of mid period Wire married to a naggingly catchy chorus. Highly recommended.