English band
Blueboy
were part of the
Sarah Records
roster, making a style of indie rock that was usually toned down and emotionally nuanced but sometimes shot through with enthusiastic jangle. A strict label policy for
Sarah
was that singles were not included on LPs, but were a separate space for songs to be experienced with exclusive focus.
took this edict to heart, releasing eight singles in addition to three studio full-lengths during a run that lasted the majority of the 1990s. The compilation
Singles 1991-1998
collects all of the band's non-album singles and their respective B-sides, presenting them in chronological order and all in the same place for the first time. It's an excellent singles comp in the tradition of
Singles Going Steady
,
Louder Than Bombs
, or
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
, offering up some of the group's best tracks in a long playing format but also showcasing how much
evolved as the years went on. The earliest singles are spare, often led by lilting acoustic guitar and finding vocalist
Keith Girdler
evoking the same soft melancholy that
the Zombies
'
Colin Blunstone
found on his solo albums. This is especially true on slight spacious tracks like "Chelsea Guitar" and "Stephanie," but the band picks up the energy with the addition of chiming guitars and peppy drums on relative rockers like "A Gentle Sigh" or with the bright cello and vocal harmonies of "Meet Johnny Rave." As the compilation goes on,
try on some different styles, experimenting with drum machines and synths on "Hit" and "River," delving into ambient formlessness on instrumental track "Nimbus," and eventually resembling something more like Britpop on later songs like "Looney Tunes," but they never fully let go of their melancholic indie pop core.
is an excellent primer for
, with no shortage of tracks that stand on their own, but the songs also fit together for a continuous listening experience as good as (if not better than) some of the band's official albums. ~ Fred Thomas