Outrageous Cherry
Out There In The Dark (25th Anniversary)
First time on vinyl. Originally released via the DF2K (the contemporary sister label of Del-Fi, one of the classic labels of the '50s and '60s (Richie Valens/Bobby Fuller) and in Europe via Poptones (the label Alan McGee (with Joe Foster) set up after the sale of Creation Records - just to give you some idea of the high upon high esteem this LP was held in. While earlier records shared a love of The Turtles, The Troggs, Television Personalities (among a host of other stuff) - 'Out There In The Dark' feels like Eno and Hawkwind filtered through Petula Clark's hit singles and all Spectorized via Matthew Smiths wonderful analog production. Recorded at Jim Diamond's Ghetto Recorders Studio and making use of a huge ancient reel to reel machine (affectionately called 'Laurel and Hardy') that provides that superb tape echo effect employed across this LP. Like Guided By Voices, Outrageous Cherry's affection for this kind of music never sounds retro, and their experimental touches make 'Out There In The Dark' play like a jukebox full of forgotten hits, a time machine with its controls set for the past and the future. Across 13 tracks sweet melodies and harmonies soar over a vicious urban Motor City guitar workouts. Motown-fueled bass and drums throb hypnotically as Matthew Smith sings as though Brian Wilson had been an honorary Ramone. Beatle-esque pop numbers like 'Tracy,' 'Corruptable,' and the made-for-AM radio 'Where Do I Go When You Dream?' balancing moodier songs like the album's narcotic centerpiece, 'Easy Come, Uneasy Glow.' (dig that phasing). Their trippy side comes to the forefront on the excellent, backwards guitar driven 'Only The Easy Way Down,' as Larry Ray's solos cut like a jagged knife and in the title track's drifting guitars and shifting tempos. Smith's ultra-faithful, vintage production style sparkles on 'A Bad Movie' The album closer 'There's No Escape From The Infinite' ends in a trance-inducing guitar apocalypse that would make Spacemen 3 and The Jesus And Mary Chain proud. And jealous. Black vinyl with 4 page folded insert and gloss laminated outer sleeve. Co-release with Feeding Tube Records.