Photo of the Henderson family taken by Ralph Crane from the LIFE magazine collection, 1970
By the end of the '80s UK troubadour Martin Newell had been through two decades of underground music, from the junkstore glam-rock of the Plod to the lo-fi jangle-pop of the Cleaners from Venus. I'm a big fan of Newell's '80s recordings with the Cleaners, as well as his excellent solo work of the '90s, but there was a missing chapter in between that I only recently became aware of. In the late '80s, after the dissolution of the Cleaners, Newell formed a duo with Nelson, who had played a variety of instruments in the band. That's right - Nelson only has one name! How cool is that? Nelson and Newell only released one full-length record as the Brotherhood of Lizards, but it remains one of the strongest releases in Newell's discography.
The first thing I noticed about Lizardland is that it bridges the gap between the Cleaners' bare-bones jangle and the more baroque sound of Newell's first (and best) solo album, 1993's The Greatest Living Englishman. Nelson's influence is immediately noticeable in the use of mandolin and glockenspiel on several tracks, and Newell's songwriting is sharp and consistent. Pastoral psychedelia is the order for the day on many of the tracks, including the excellent opener "It Could Have Been Cheryl". "The Dandelion Marine" and "Sand Dragon" are other are also excellent soft-psych songs, but upbeat pop numbers like "She Dreamed She Could Fly" and "The Happening Guy" provide some good variety.
"Market Day", with its lilting melody and mandolin riffs, is one of my favorites on Lizardland. Like Newell's best songs, it revels in its English-ness, and Newell harmonizes with himself beautifully on the chorus. In my experience, it can be hard to find some of Newell's releases (in the US at least), but Lizardland is one that is definitely worth the effort.
"Market Day" by the Brotherhood of Lizards
0 comments:
Post a Comment