The notion of the ‘supergroup’ first appeared in the 1960s, the idea that it was made up of bands who were already successful. Of course, anything the mainstream can do, the underground can probably do better, and so it is that Swansea Sound are made up of indie-pop royalty: Hue Williams on vocals (ex-Pooh Sticks), Amelia Fletcher also on vocals (Heavenly, Catenary Wires, ex-Pooh Sticks/Talulah Gosh), drummer Ian Button (Heavenly, Catenary Wires, ex-Death In Vegas), Bob Collins on guitar (ex-Dentists), and Rob Pursey – bass (Heavenly, Catenary Wires).
Over the past few years, Swansea Sound have released a seasonal single each, and they are at it again this year. The three previous seasonal offerings have been presented as CDs inside greetings cards. But this time, the two new tracks are presented on a vinyl album along with the previous six songs, creating a perfect soundtrack for a sad and angry Christmas…or even one that you’re enjoying, giving a well-deserving act some more exposure, especially if during the season of goodwill you have the urge to pogo around the room. Then again, many indie-pop fans have this urge the year round…
Still up to speed? Good. Sad and angry Christmas songs have been around since, well probably almost as long as Christmas and there have been some great ones (this writer loves ‘Things Fall Apart‘ by Cristina). What we have here is a wonderful mini-album, clocking in at less than 25 minutes in length. Hopefully you’ve been privy to some of these tracks before, and if you’re into making Christmas playlists, the very least you could do is to add these songs to them.
Christmas can be very stressful for so many reasons, so it’s a relief to be able to reach out for a record that may understand you more than your relatives. Not to mention the stress of working in retail; having done three Christmases doing just that, when this writer rules the world (Dear God, that’s a scary prospect! – albums editor) everyone will have to do one Christmas in retail. The album includes two ace new songs celebrating the festive tradition of buying crap from online sales platforms: ‘Not My Order’ and ‘Click It And Pay (Walking In The Air).’ The video for the former is at the foot of this page. Perhaps this is what should be on customer service lines?
Closing track ‘Merry Christmas Darlings‘ is a glam-stomper, which is such a wonderful pastiche of the 1970s classics that I would like to hope that as mainstream radio shows get increasingly Christmassy should be slotted in between all the usual suspects. I think it’s quite possibly the best track on here. It deserves to join the selection of really good Christmas albums, not just the recent Futureheads one, but also the likes of Low and Tracey Thorn.
If you haven’t already ordered this, it takes the DIY of the indie scene to the extreme that it’s the most hand-made record that the band’s Skep Wax label have ever produced, and comes complete with signed card, carol sheet, cracker jokes, balloons and party hat.
And on top of this, the first Heavenly album for thirty years has just arrived in my inbox ahead of its release next year…
