Swagger - The Blue Aeroplanes

I know this will be hard to imagine, but The Blue Aeroplanes are more 'arty' than Talking Heads and R.E.M. combined and, if I'm being honest, that is the reason I bought this album. In 1989 it was very important, if not crucial, to have the coolest record collection. Why? Well I was in the final year of Sixth Form and we wore our record collection on our sleeves......well T-Shirts actually but I think you get the picture. The more obscure the T-shirt the cooler you were, or at least that's how I think it worked.

The Blue Aeroplanes were not what you might call a high profile 'alternative' band so they were perfect. I could almost guarantee that hardly anyone had heard of them. Did it matter if I didn't like them? Well not really - as long as I wore one of their T-shirts and besides I was still harbouring that shameful secret that I had bought 'Tango In The Night' by Fleetwood Mac a few years earlier. Oh the shame! Had that fact, along with the real truth that I really liked The Mac, been exposed no amount of cool clothing would have made up for it. My reputation would've been in tatters - I could have covered myself in Indie bling and tattooed 'The Cure 4 Ever' on my forehead and yet I still would've been tarnished.

But the real twist is that I sort of liked this album, especially the track 'Jacket Hangs'. Hearing it again for the first time in five years or so I can appreciate it for what it really is without worrying that it won't be enough to hide my AOR tendencies. Putting aside the slightly pretentious nature there are actually some great songs on here. Super music, rhythmic 12 string guitars with half-spoken obscure lyrics, now where have we heard that before?