Formed around mercurial frontman Dan Treacy, the band achieved a certain notoriety with now-classic songs like 'Where's Bill Grundy Now?' and 'Part-Time Punks' before helping to spawn the early-80s psych revival with the album ...And Don't The Kids Just Love It.
The 15 previously unreleased tracks on Beautiful Despair was recorded during 1990 by Treacy and longtime Personality and former SWELL MAP Jowe Head at the latter's flat in Stoke Newington, North London over a number of sessions to a 4-track portastudio.
Check out 'If You Fly Too High'.
"'If You Fly Too High' was based on an encounter with Evan Dando of The Lemonheads in Berlin," explains Head. "We did a memorable gig with them at the Ecstasy Madhouse in December 1989, when the Berlin Wall was being torn down. Exciting times. We jammed with Evan on stage that night, playing some tunes by Jonathan Richman and Johnny Thunders, as I recall. That song also mentions Alan McGee, who was a great fan of the TVPS and Dan’s songs. Alan openly admits that he emulated Dan’s style of music, and influenced his decision to run a mod-psychedelic club, The Living Room, and to start his label, Creation."
Set for release on 26 January through Fire Records, Beautiful Despair is available to pre-order on limited edition black-and-white splatter vinyl, regular vinyl, CD and download here.
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Pic by Alison Withers