Best albums of 1990: #2 The Charlatans “Some friendly”

Now that Ottawa Bluesfest is over (and has been for almost a week), I’ve been doing my best to avoid festival withdrawal and part of my strategy now is to get back to our normal schedule of posts. Returning to the series counting down my favourite albums of 1990 is a good way to jump right back into it. Picking things up at the number two position on this list, here’s yet another album with which I am and have been intimately acquainted for years.

I’ve written before somewhere in these pages but it bears mentioning again that my second favourite album of 1990 came to me by way of a mixed tape made for me by a teen years friend that I’ve not seen or spoken to in decades. Elliott and I were getting into alternative music together from different directions on the musical spectrum: he from hardcore thrash and me from AM pop radio. He put together the tape from his new girlfriend’s CD collection and featured half of the tracks from “Some friendly”, though I didn’t know at the time that all of these amazing tracks by The Charlatans came from the same debut album, not from multiple LPs across an established outfit’s career.

The mixed tape was a constant fixture in my Walkman for months and I became enamoured with these tracks. So it wasn’t long before I was out tracking down anything I could find by The Charlatans on cassette. Imagine my glee when I learned all of these songs could be found in one place. Then, when I unwrapped the purchase, snapped the tape into place in my trusty golden yellow player, and slipped on my earphones, I proceeded to learn that Elliott’s selections weren’t the only great tracks on the album, and in some cases, he had even left off a few of the true diamonds.

“Some friendly” kicked off a long and storied career by a band that still exists* and is still one of my favourites today, though it must be said that they have lost a few members over the years and their creative output has diminished in quantity but not so much in quality. They have persevered through adversity, launching comeback album after comeback album and reinventing themselves in sound and aesthetic. As a debut, it received moderate critical reviews, more notable for its perceived influences than for its own voice, but the buying public loved it and often that matters more. It has since been looked upon more kindly as a classic of its time and place, as is often the case. Interestingly, it continues to be attributed to an and lumped in with the madchester scene, due to its proximity in sound, rather than their geographical location.

“Some friendly” is an album that will always remind me of the years at the end of high school and the beginning of university. It soundtracked so many walks around town and nights hanging out in my basement bedroom. Then, later, these were songs that would drag me out to the dance floor every time those familiar first sounds would materialize through which ever club or pub speakers I was frequenting on a given night. The Jon Brookes rhythms would get my knees bopping, the Rob Collin’s organs my heart racing, and those Tim Burgess vocals my mouth a smiling and lyric spouting.

All of these tracks on “Some friendly” are worth your time but the three I’ve picked for you below are a good place to start.

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“Polar bear”: “Life’s a bag of Revels / And I’m looking for the orange one / She’s gone / And not for the first time.” Apparently, this track was originally titled “Looking for the orange one”, which is a great title, but I’m still partial to the final choice of title. Though, admittedly, the song lyrics don’t really have more meaning under the “Polar bear” moniker. I’ve never been sure at all what the song is meant to be about, in fact many of their songs are unclear and you get the feeling this was done on purpose. Some of the lines are seemingly so random that they are hilariously memorable. Still, even with such randomness, the lyrics do add to the feeling of the song, perhaps not so much as the haunting woodwind that wends and floats its way throughout its entirety. Dancing frostily, like tinkling icicles, in the misty air hanging heavily over the jaunty rhythm and the unwavering organ. It is a song that played loud in the dancehalls or over earphones is so undeniably massive.

“The only one I know”: “Everyone has been burned before / Everybody knows the pain.” The Charlatans’ second ever and highest charting single from “Some friendly” was actually meant to be an instrumental piece, so likely wouldn’t have seen such a wide release. I loved it from the first, seeing it as completely new and inventive but I would learn much later that the song borrowed lyrics from The Byrds and an organ riff from Deep Purple. Frontman Tim Burgess, himself, has always found its structure odd, unsure which parts are the chorus and which are the verses. He is, however, clear that the words were inspired about the confusion and uncertainty of being a teenager. For me, this song was always so high energy and uplifting and left me breathless at the end, even if I wasn’t dancing to it on a packed dance floor, though I did that often enough.

“Sproston green”: “This one knows she comes and goes, and when she goes she goes.” The final number on this debut album has borne mention a couple of times on this blog already – once, when it hit number two for my fave tunes of 1990 and another when I gave it the nod as my favourite ever Charlies tune – so forgive me if I repeat myself a bit here. Its epic breadth and scope, replete with a lengthy, slow-burning intro. The song builds perfectly from the echoing, just beyond earshot guitar intro to a more a solidified onslaught once the rest of the band joins in the fun. It never gives an inch, the drum beat, the bass line, and the “raise the goblet of rock” guitar riff are all in race to get you moving. It is pure ecstasy and mass hysteria at its climax. It’s no wonder that 35 years later, it’s still one of the band’s favourite tracks to close out their shows with.

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*And in fact, they just announced the upcoming release of a new album, they’re 14th, due out in the fall.

We’ll be back in a handful of days with album #1. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. The Northern Pikes “Snow in June”
9. Jane’s Addiction “Ritual de lo habitual”
8. Sinéad O’Connor “I do not want what I haven’t got”
7. The La’s “The La’s”
6. Concrete Blonde “Bloodletting”
5. Spirit of the West “Save this house”
4. The Sisters of Mercy “Vision thing”
3. Ride “Nowhere”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.