Allan Crockford, he of The Prisoners of yore, (well, yore as in ’80s, not TOO yore punk,) has gathered a rather stellar troupe in his near-orbit to satisfy the bringing out of songs most buoyant and raucous: Viv Bonsels on keyboards; Mole of The Mystreated and The Higher State on bass and vocals; and Russ Baxter pounding out a rhythm on the drum kit. What’s it sound like? Well, if I didn’t know any better and was handed a CD-r with no way to ascertain just what this was I might surmise it was one of those great Arf! Arf! compilations from the…, erm, yes, “days of yore.” Fuzz from the first! “Don’t Follow Me” gifts us immediately with an insistent driving beat and keyboard-fulled mania. We’re in for a treat. Given the C.V.’s of the players the whole album holds up and plays to their strengths throughout the eleven tracks. “You’re Not Dreaming” could pass for The Kinks. “Tide’s Rising” may be the fastest floor-filler of the bunch. (I must add: the last track, “Little By Little” is my go-to track, for now, only because it took me three listens to identify what it reminded me of so strongly. I knew I’d heard that riff before, so after the third listen I could play it back in my mind stripped of the vocals and VOILA! I had it: Gary Ramon’s pre- Sun Dial band, The Modern Art’s “White Sports Car”! An all-time fav’ of mine, so the closeness between the two tracks only bolstered my making it my “here’s their sound” track.)

Valis