{"id":33951,"date":"2020-06-22T15:15:15","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T19:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=33951"},"modified":"2020-06-22T20:26:26","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T00:26:26","slug":"musique-boutique-junkshop-britpop-bessie-jones-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/musique-boutique-junkshop-britpop-bessie-jones-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Musique Boutique: Junkshop Britpop, Bessie Jones, and MORE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Welcome to Audiofemme&#8217;s new monthly record review column, <strong>Musique Boutique<\/strong>, written by music journo vet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GillianGaarWriter\/\">Gillian G. Gaar<\/a>. Every fourth Monday, Musique Boutique offers a cross-section of noteworthy reissues and new releases guaranteed to perk up your ears.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33954\" src=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145-324x324.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145-416x416.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SUPER_SONICS_Brit_Pop-e1592864175145-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It was the summer of 1995, and the cool kids were dancing to delicious pop treats by the likes of Elizabeth Bunny, Powder, and Velocette. Wait a minute \u2014 who? Don\u2019t be surprised if those names don\u2019t ring a bell. These artists didn\u2019t really make much of a splash outside their native UK, where their record releases were mostly confined to singles. Which is what makes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cherryred.co.uk\/product\/martin-green-presents-super-sonics-40-junkshop-britpop-greats-various-artists-2cd\/\"><em>Super Sonics: 40 Junkshop Britpop Greats<\/em><\/a> (RPM) such an enticing collection of undiscovered treats.<\/p>\n<p>Britpop was the UK\u2019s answer to grunge, trading in the melancholy wash of the latter for something that was bright, sparkly, and above all, British. It had the catchiness of British Invasion pop, the stylishness of glam, and the sarcasm of punk. \u201cJunkshop\u201d refers to another source of musical inspiration: thrift stores, where those in search of recordings off the beaten track could find all manner of oddities awaiting discovery in the record bins.<\/p>\n<p>Mix it all together and who knows what\u2019s going to come out? It\u2019s how you got numbers like the swaggering \u201cRough Lover\u201d by Posh, which has Pippa Brooks ticking off said lover\u2019s attributes with caustic relish, set against a jagged, heavy rock beat. Or the giddy good fun of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/0jtEYb5un9HcX80KeBchGO?si=UUpPFEBSTaucvNroplpoKw\">Come out 2 Nite<\/a>\u201d by Kenickie, which has singer Lauren Laverne reaching out to encourage you to join in: \u201cWe don\u2019t have time to be sad\/Come out tonight, you\u2019ve got to grab it\/If you want to have it.\u201d Or the power pop\/new wave drive of Heavenly\u2019s sweetly sarcastic \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B6SJS7OOZi8\">Trophy Girlfriend<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y4x3HJJIV7U\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s especially fascinating to see the musical cross currents in evidence. The vibrations of riot grrrl jumped the Atlantic and were picked up by Huggy Bear, and their fiery punk is perfectly distilled in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uzCdRIuhfPI\">Her Jazz<\/a>.\u201d You can also hear echoes of UK new wavers the Au Pairs in the track, the same rawness and dissection of sexual politics, the kind of anthem that demands to be played loud. \u201cThis is the sound of a revolution,\u201d Niki Elliott pronounces as she claims new territory for her generation: \u201cThis is happening without your permission\/The arrival of a new renegade\/Girl-boy hyper nation!\u201d It\u2019s exhilarating.<\/p>\n<p>The revolutionary zeal of riot grrrl was later mainstreamed into the less anarchic \u201cGirl Power\u201d of the Spice Girls. But <em>Super Sonics<\/em> reveals that they weren\u2019t the first group to capitalize on that phrase. That honor was left to Shampoo, a lively UK duo formed by Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew when they were still in school. &#8220;Girl Power&#8221; (\u201cWe might look sweet, but we wanna be sour\u201d) was in fact the title track of their <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/5o1FQj6ozzIJLpFrDbXX79?si=q39fLiBSQZ6ZI7p6oHrEYw\">third album<\/a>, but <em>Super Sonics<\/em> features an earlier track, the boisterous \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/3Cu7QVUQVixG1cFg0T9sdB?si=9XNc8CZbRgaeFUCMhrcEuw\">We Don\u2019t Care<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s a kind of playground chant of defiance, that starts out deceptively quiet, then explodes into a whipsawing beat as Blake and Askew celebrate the excitement of being young and being alive.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s not even mentioning the brooding pop of Linoleum (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/1dPX0l5wveO7VZiivSOoWC?si=FMoFMC55R6u6a8B6zLdP2Q\">Marquis<\/a>\u201d), Showgirls\u2019 concise depiction of the pleasures and perils of a crush (\u201cSo Small\u201d), or Bis\u2019 edgy love letter to a heroine (\u201cKeroleen\u201d). There\u2019s a raft of great stuff to explore here, so dig in.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RF52yodwISg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Also out this month:<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33952\" src=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-324x324.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-416x416.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/bessiejonesgetinunion-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mary Elizabeth \u201cBessie\u201d Jones was born in 1902 in Georgia, and grew up surrounded by the sound of music. \u201cThe parents, they would give quiltings, and they would have songs they would sing while they were quilting \u2026 And we would have egg crackings and taffy pullings and we would hear all those things \u2014 riddleses and stories and different things.\u201d She heard stories of the past from her step-grandfather, a former slave. Every member of her family sang or played an instrument, or both.<\/p>\n<p>Jones eventually settled in St. Simons Island, Georgia, where she joined the Spiritual Singers of Coastal Georgia. In the early 1960s, noted ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax recorded Jones with the Spiritual Singers, and <em>Get In Union<\/em> (The Alan Lomax Archives\/Assoc. for cultural Equity) features 60 of these profoundly moving songs.<\/p>\n<p>The opening track, \u201cSheep, Don\u2019t You Know the Road,\u201d sets the tone. Jones takes the lead in this gentle call-and-response: \u201cDon\u2019t you know the road by the praying of the prayer?\u201d \u201cYes Lord, I know the road.\u201d It feels like a welcome, an invitation to come in and make yourself at home. The folk, spirituals, and gospel songs are mostly performed acapella, with the occasional handclap or guitar for accompaniment. It helps keep the spotlight Jones\u2019 rich, warm vocals, and the impressive harmonies of the group, as in numbers like \u201cYou Better Mind\u201d and \u201cO Mary, Don\u2019t You Weep.\u201d There\u2019s a fun 35-second ode to preparations for the next meal (\u201cGator\u201d), and Jones shines in her solo numbers, \u201cGot to Lie Down,\u201d \u201cGo Wash in That Beautiful Stream,\u201d and \u201cDiamond Joe\u201d in particular. It\u2019s uplifting music that feels especially suited to these troubled times.<\/p>\n<p>This digital only release, available on <a href=\"https:\/\/alanlomaxarchive.bandcamp.com\/album\/get-in-union\">Bandcamp<\/a>, is an expanded version of the 2014 CD release of the same name, featuring previously unreleased material.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/27WOlmD7r8wMosuKfIK7GN\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-33953\" src=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264-324x324.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264-416x416.jpg 416w, https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/larkinpoelp-e1592863689264-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Megan, Rebecca, and Jessica got their start as the Lovell Sisters, who released two albums of country music bolstered by their great harmonies. After that group disbanded, Megan and Rebecca came together as Larkin Poe (named after their great-great-great-grandfather), and took things in a solidly rock direction, though a distinct Southern flavor remains (born in Georgia, the sisters are now based in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/playing-nashville-larkin-poe-self-made-man\/\">Nashville<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Their latest, <em>Self Made Man<\/em> (Tricki-Woo Records), gets off to a rousing start with the title track (the title slightly amended to \u201cShe\u2019s a Self Made Man\u201d), a bold, hard rocker, that has Rebecca in full battle cry on lead vocals, and Megan making an equally searing contribution on lap steel guitar. And that\u2019s just the start in this rollicking journey that\u2019s drenched in Southern gothic rock, and steeped in the blues. Blind Willie Johnson\u2019s \u201cGod Moves on the Water\u201d is given a modern spin, now referencing other disasters as well as the Titanic, as in Johnson\u2019s original; \u201cHoly Ghost Fire\u201d burns with a fraught intensity; the upbeat \u201cEasy Street\u201d looks ahead to better days with foot stomping optimism. Rebecca told AJC that the band\u2019s songs were written specifically to work well in live performance. So you can look forward to some sizzling shows by Larkin Poe once live concerts make a welcome return to our lives.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4jwVtyG5s22UpGqKOZishP\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to Audiofemme&#8217;s new monthly record review column, Musique Boutique, written by music journo vet Gillian G. Gaar. Every fourth Monday, Musique Boutique offers a cross-section of noteworthy reissues and new releases guaranteed to perk up your ears. It was the summer of 1995, and the cool kids were dancing to delicious pop treats by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":33955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10494,202],"tags":[10495,10498,10499,10497,10469,10496,10500],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/MB1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33951"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33963,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33951\/revisions\/33963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}