Ring Ring! Psych-tinged indie from Derby's finest
While the country continues to go to the dogs it's heartening to know there are still some things that make me proud to be Englishman. Our politicians may be sadly lacking in talent but our women's football team have an abundance. And thankfully for us music lovers, so do our musicians. The latest group to confirm this is a five-piece group from Derby called The Telephones. The band's most recent album, Prosaic Turbulence, has been on pretty much constant rotation on my daily commute to work over the last few weeks. Here's three bullet points on the band to pique your interest...
1 - The tag-line on their Twitter profile bills them as “modern psych situationist rock 'n' roll” - a pretty neat calling card.
2 - All five members of the band are writers with songwriting credits awarded in various permutations.
3 - Like many of my favourite groups they don't have a fixed lead vocalist. I'm guessing whoever is the main writer for each song takes the lead vocal.
Their sound is rooted in post C-86, pre-Britpop indie. The latter of those chronological bookends is especially important I think - Pre-Britpop indie took inspiration from literature and left-field art and films. The mainstream indie that took hold with the rise of Britpop was more about laddism and lager. As much as I'm partial to a lager or two, I know which strain of guitar music I prefer, and I'm guessing The Telephones are of the same mind. The fact that their lyrics have depth confirms it for me, as does the name-checking of Leeds indie band The Pale Saints on one of the album's standout tracks 'Pale Saints Again').
There are also hints of The Byrds, The Stone Roses, and '60s psych on Prosaic Turbulence. Primary influences all well and good but it's the personal stamp on them that counts. Here it's the songwriting that impresses most, inhabiting that part of the Venn Diagram where sweet lyrical depth and memorable melodies overlap.
Prosaic Turbulence is streaming now, though if physical copies are your thing it's also available on CD or limited edition heavyweight blue vinyl via the band's Bandcamp page. Do check it out!
The Telephones are -
