The Pretty Things' new LP 'The Sweet Pretty Things OUT JULY 10th
It's only week away until the first new Pretty Things studio album in seven years, The Sweet Pretty Things... will be released. This remarkable 10-track collection that celebrates the core PTs’ values – a “live in the studio” ensemble recording that radiates a luminous energy, cut on vintage analogue equipment and 2-inch recording tape with minimal over-dubbing and an immediacy that few can dare to achieve in these days of auto-tuning and digital anaesthesia – has already caused shockwaves with many of those who have received a CD or download. It's be great to know if you will be reviewing or covering it. If you could let me know that'd be splendid.
As the band’s producer and manager Mark St John commented: “We set up the band’s vintage backline of all ’60s Selmer valve amps, Jack’s vintage Slingerland / Camco drum kit, put Phil on a high stool in the vocal booth, I threw up a few old valve microphones and hit the ‘record’ button. It was a really energetic and creative session, with everyone contributing fully in their own way and influences coming from all directions...”
Bob Dylan fans will note the reference in the album title from his opus ‘Tombstone Blues’ – Dylan befriended the band on his 1965 UK tour, forever immortalised in the movie Don’t Look Back. Like Dylan himself, The Pretty Things aren’t a band for wallowing in nostalgia, and if Bouquets From A Cloudy Sky summed up the band’s first half-century in suitably comprehensive fashion, then The Sweet Pretty Things has the band looking forward with unsentimental, uncompromising honesty and a direct mainline to the heart of classic rock ’n’ roll. It’s a truly collaborative effort, with the individual members of the band swapping instruments and the “Ancient Sampler” itself (the Mellotron) being wheeled out to weave its peculiar magic to the swirling, kaleidoscopic album sonics.
In many ways the new album not only vindicates the band’s continued existence, it is a set that almost never got made – vocalist and mainstay Phil May suffered a near-fatal health scare late in 2014, but the man’s remarkable stamina and too “tough to die” demeanour has the May of 2015 still handling the vocal front line with a vigour and determination that belies his years. Such is Phil’s drive and desire to inspire that for ‘Dirty Song’ he composed the song lyric on the spot, as the tapes were rolling; his appetite for taking the album out on the road has the band taking on over a hundred live engagements (and rising!) for the rest of 2015.
For some inexplicable reason, even 52 years on and counting, The Pretty Things still have the energy and vitality that they possessed at the start. This new recordings shows none of the quiet professionalism, dignity and taste that other – “heritage” – acts put into their later recordings. This is as lively, relevant and energetic as a puppy on speed and is aimed directly at the beating heart of rock's emerging, new vinyl-junkie, psych-youth market. No safety first here – this is just press and play. There's not a coffee table in the world that this would fit on.
The Pretty Things are Phil May (vocals) Dick Taylor (lead guitar, vocals), Frank Holland (lead guitar, Mellotron, vocals), George Woosey (bass guitar, vocals, rhythm guitar), and Jack Greenwood (drums, percussion, vocals).
THE PRETTY THINGS
The Sweet Pretty Things
(Are Now In Bed, Of Course...)
Cat No: REPUK1265
Release Date: July 10th 2015
OTHER PRETTY THINGS ON REPERTOIRE
Live At Rockpalast (REPUK 1204) 2DVD+CD set
Live At The BBC (REPUK 1205) 4CD set
Balboa Island (REPUK 1229) new version - 3 bonus tracks
Silk Torpedo (REPUK 1271) new version - 6 bonus tracks
Savage Eye (REPUK 1272) new version - 6 bonus tracks
Quelle: No Other Publicity