Some Friendly (1990)
Shuffling, baggy debut featuring intense flash back hammond held together by a water tight rhythm section, Tims sugary vocals and off centre lyrics ensure that a template for future progression has been etched in stone. A string of sold out shows and heavy media interest sees the band put firmly on the map.
Rating 4/5
Chart position: 1
Reviews
Pete (thecharlatans.info 2001)
Here we go then, Indie hotshots the Charlatans produce their first album, baggy is with us and the group is heading your way, the big question is, have they got a great album too? Read on!
A marker is laid down with the opening of track 1, You're Not Very Well, the sheer intensity of the Hammond intro, says, look, we mean it, then the drums kick in and you begin to realise that they mean it in an extremely groovy Madchester way. The lyrics and vocals are spot on, Tim sings like an angel and it sounds so fresh and dancey, mmm, great start!
Track 2 is White Shirt, which just smacks of a free hippy, the sun's out, the sky is blue attitude, but the vocals contradict this. Tim sings "she laughed and then she died". The tune is there, the lovely carefree attitude shines, this is the sound of a band enjoying themselves. Sounds confident.
The Only One I Know, I won't write about, apart from, fantastic! See the singles reviews!
Opportunity comes in at 4 and this is a laid back groovy chiller, dominated by brilliant drumming and Hammond, it positively washes over your whole existence, building and falling seemingly simultaneously. As the lyrics proclaim "going round, round, round, this sensation I found, again", interpret that how you will! A magical demonstration of the bands depth, they show they can flow as well as anyone. A highlight in their history.
Then signals a return to their up temp rock instinct and its another classy tune also covered in the singles reviews!
Its weirdy instrumental time now, with 109 pt2, this is fun type experimental groove out, that later lent its name to their official information service. Another statement of intent, its boldness grabs you, it builds into something unexpectedly great.
Polar Bear follows, and here we go into something that's just top, fast tempo, and a little strange, but structured at the same time, great drums again dominate initially, Tims strange lyrics add mystique and keep you listening. Hard to keep your feet still to! Boasts some fantastical lyrical moments and Hammond parts, a real fun classic!
Groovin' again with Believe You Me, this starts high energy and continues in classic Madchester fashion, just makes ya wanna get up and dance, and forget any problems, it's a joy. Another demonstration of the bands confidence it sounds big , important and what everyone should be doing. Tims vocals are again sugary, sweet and cool, but the Hammond and drums carry this to higher plains.
Big heavy, and more confident sounding than anything else, Flower, again shows the belief at the heart of the band, they want to make something important, and this just smacks of a completely formed band producing records at the very highest level. It's heavy and light at the same time, something that they will carry off again and again in future years. Important, yet groovy, feeling better than the rest and demonstrating it effortlessly.
More dance floor suss from the band, Sonic is another one up there with the best, Tim again using darker lyrics, set against an up tempo tune. Not the best track here, but special, none the less.
Sproston Green:the big closer, the massively impressive skyscraper, that couldn't be anywhere but last track on an album, it sends you away delirious and wanting more, this is possibly the most awesome track ever written by a British band. Turn it up loud, dance to the intro, nod your head in Tim Burgess style and launch yourself into it. A track to make you feel unbeatable, cool, oh so big, groovy, sexy, indestructible, yet vulnerable, all at the same time. Classic. Unbeatable. Charlatans.
Graeme Kay (Q Magazine 2000)
Given their loyalty to the same neo-psychedelic philosophy, and the fact that singer Tim Burgess sounds very similar to Ian Brown, The Charlatans' debut could receive unwanted comparisons with The Stone Rose. In truth though, apart from these superficial similarities the bands have little in common. First of all, The Charlatans (with the exception of Burgess) come from the Midlands rather than Manchester. Secondly the Roses are without doubt a guitar band, whereas The Charlatans' mouth-wateringly ripe sound swells and fattens around the voluptuous rhythm 'n' blues /gospel / rock core of Rob Collins's Hammond organ. Influence-wise this highly accessible set draws from a list that takes in The Doors (Sonic), Traffic (Believe You Me, Opportunity), and The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn-period Pink Floyd (Imperial 101). Of course, such a retrogressive inspirational trawl could have resulted in nothing more than hackneyed revivalism. But as the above-named songs, plus the album's twin peaks Sproston Green and Polar Bear reveal, The Charlatans possess enough wit, style and personality to transcend mere nostalgia and produce something vigorous and exciting.
Bob Stanley (Melody Maker Oct 1990)
THE Charlatans are great pop. Like The Rolling Stones, like The Stone Roses, like Betty Boo, they're all about three minute singles, technicolour posters, and a Face. Tim Burgess is their poutsome jewel & "Indian Rope", "The Only One I Know" and "Then" have been the records, each one better than the last. They are perfect teen mag fodder, they are a perfect student band, they mean all things to all people and, like all great pop, they'll probably be a spent force within two years.
So much for the theory. In practice, "Some Friendly" gets off on the wrong foot by featuring the crappiest sleeve this year, even crappier than the Inspiral Carpets' album cover. The back is a collection of pics that would look more at home on the cover of a German text book, while the front features a photo of the band messed up by a computer so that Tim bears a stunning resemblance to the Honey Monster. Eye-catching it ain't. The music is something else again.
From a band who have been in existence for little over a year, you wouldn't expect an album brimful of variety - what you do get is a collection of woozy, semi-psych songs that are all identifiably Charlatans. The high, melodic basslines, the lop-sided yet wholely groovy drumming, the organ sound, warm and full compared to the Inspirals' farty Farfisa and Tim's drawled; deliberately Northern vocals; this is "Some Friendly". That's not to say there aren't peaks and troughs. "Polar Bear" is the one jump into club culture, with its electro squiggles and automaton drum pattern, while its lyric sums up Tim's loopy worldview - "Life's a bag of revels, I'm looking for the orange one." God knows why, they're even yukkier than the coffee ones. "White Shirt" also highlights Tim's lyrics and in particular his outrageous use of street speak. Who else would dare to sing "Got it sorted", or "I can't be arsed"? Tim's a wag "White Shirt" is a strong contender for the fourth single with its driving bassline, up there chorus, and peculiar hookline of "She laughed and then she cried"… I'm sure it all makes perfect sense to Tim.
Downers? Well, "Believe You Me" and "Flower" are perhaps too typical, a little predictable, a tad pedestrian. But each side closes with a brace of gems. For side two it's the melancholy rockabilly shuffle (I kid you not) of the excellent "Sonic", and "Sproston Green" with a "Won't Get Fooled Again" intro sadly replacing the spacey, drawn-out beginning they favour live.
Side one, meantime, has a closing trio of driftscapes that point to something altogether more adventurous: the criminally undervalued "Then", a minor chord gem sraight and true, is sandwiched between the high tearful harmonies of "Opportunity" and "109 Pt 2", which consists of a furious, building wall of drums topped with haunting mellotron and a smattering of backwards tapes.
These voyages into the semi-conscious are only faulted by their brevity - that The Charlatans seem to be heading into this pop-dream-netherworld, where Ocean Colour Scene and The High are already making heady, steady progress, only makes me more optimistic that 1991 will be a glorious mind trip of a year.
Enough. Back to the present. So "Some Friendly" is hopefully The Charlatans' first flowering, hopefully they'll transcend the pure pop trappings which have resulted in mucho internal bickering during the last few weeks. Otherwise it could be to 1990 what Haircut 100's "Pelican West" was to 1982, a fine pop collection that's completely Now and will be clogging up the racks of Record And Tape Exchange in 18 months when the teeny boppers have found new pin-ups.
"Some Friendly" is like a stick of rock with "1990" written all the way through it - whether it's the start of something more substantial only time will tell. Sweet and instant, whatever way you look at it, "Some Friendly" is great pop.