MY DRUG HELL
THIS IS MY DRUG HELL
(Forthesakeofthesong)
Welcome reissue of long-lost nineties classic.
4/5
Logging the myriad joys and pains of a west London hipster’s existence, Tim Briffa and his My Drug Hell caught a moment with their 1997 debut, a snapshot of W10 before the high street giants and the yummy mummies annexed the main drag . ‘This Is My Drug Hell’ recalls an altogether gentler age when a down-at-heel rock’n’roller could still bag himself a nifty psychedelic shirt up the ‘bella for under a tenner without too much trouble, yet for all nostalgia‘s undeniably warm glow what’s striking about this reissue is how bang-on sharp it still sounds. MDH adeptly channeled sixties rock’s darker currents into a jaggedly efficient three piece dynamic, underpinning Briffa’s bittersweet observations on life and love in the shadow of the Trellick tower. Unearthing them now, it’s all the more perplexing that MDH never broke out into the bigger league; You Were Right, I Was Wrong still conjures up bust-ups you thought you’d long forgotten, and the near-hit Girl At The Bus Stop is one of the great shoulda-beens of British pop, a sublime lovelorn moment. The long-promised follow-up album has yet to materialise of course, but for now, the dark pop shimmer of My Drug Hell’s debut is once again yours to savor..
Hugh Gulland
