Para Vista Social Club ‘Scott and Charleneâs Wedding’ (Critical Heights Records)
CD/LP/DL
Released Nov 12th (UK), Nov 27th (USA)
Remember the Velvet Underground? Anyone? I thought so. Remember the Spacemen 3? I imagine a few of you are holding your hands up waiting to answer. So, do you remember the Go-Betweens? The masters of sublime pop who should have been massive? Spring Rain? No?
Well thereâs the thing. Hailing from down under Craig Dermody does remember these bands and having now relocated to the Big Apple heâs built these influences into his own sound. Scott and Charleneâs Wedding, come on, you already know what they are named after, in time honoured in indie tradition the ironic name fits perfectly. Of course that might just be me; too many people loved Jason and Kylie for me to be totally cynical about it. I think I just confused myself which is probably the point.
This is proper Velvets influenced, stripy T-shirt, fey fringes and record collecting indie. The album first came in a run of two hundred with each sleeve painted by Craig. It now comes in a deluxe package that features thirty eight of those covers for you to choose which you want to use…how indie is that?
The music seems to latch on to an idea at the start of the song and moves along making that thought count. The rambling music is at times almost falling apart and at others has a sublime pop melody hiding underneath the shambolic feel of the record. Iâve been listening to it for the best part of a week now and itâs still dragging me in different directions. Craigâs voice isnât strong; itâs strained and high almost giving the impression of breaking down. The songs echo the depression and desperation of working in dead end jobs, travelling alone around a city and remembering what came before. The music echoes the feeling of being stuck and alone in a mire of dark thinking. Heâs asking for help to get away from his life and into something better.
