Charlatans(UK) C/D

same here dan.

well if you wanna like post-dylan cobblers then fine mista perry.

You know the person at work who *always* comes out with the most *obvious* jokes, always parrots the standard line on the issue of day, always gives you 'fun' advice like 'don't do anything *I* wouldn't do'? They're not hateful, quite amiable even, but ultimately.....you'd rather do anything than have to converse with them. Well that's the Charlatans. Standard issue. Ordinary. Does What It Says On The Tin. Fuck them.

the Charlatans are nothing like that Dr C, you're thinking of Travis or Athlete perhaps.

ah re-assurance and reliability...

This is a context/ubiquity issue, isn't it? The Charlatans were never shoved down our throats over here and we weren't inundated with 800 bands doing the same thing unless we wanted to be, ergo some of us in the US have developed very different attitudes towards "the obvious targets".

Also, I think I can count the number of Happy Mondays album tracks that I've liked on two fingers, only I don't actually have any recollection of them. For a good long while Primal Scream and Happy Mondays were duking it out for Most Overrated Singles Band In The UK in my mind, but then I realized that outside of "Slip Inside This House" I thought that _Screamadelica_-era PS was irredeemable shit across the board.

the one charlatans fan i met was a very nice guy. he liked ocean colour scene, paul weller and so on but i conversed with him though i lost touch after college...for me its not to do with the fans but the music just relies so much on that organ and i never feel the others are contributing too much to the sound (this is from listening to a handful of singles, which after listening to them neevr encouraged me to go any further with it).

No, I'm thinking of the Charlatans.

I think it is a context thing, Dan, but not an ubiquity thing. Certainly a very useless thing.I mean they're not vile like Primal Scream, they're just not....anything. A bit baggy, a bit Roses-y THEN whooo! Timmy discovers Blonde on Blonde and Sticky Fingers and we get a youth club version of The fucking Rolling Stones fronted by Booby Zimmertwat. I mean did we ever need them? Why aren't people more fucking critical? They didn't even come from Manchester properly. Hell - even the Inspiral Carpets were better.

It's my way of weeding out the wheat from the chaff. The 'classic or dud' conundrum is how I have always viewed music. Snap decisions, good or bad, in or out. I don't want 'average'. I'll come down harder on 'average' than 'crap'. It's just my way - it's of no importance what I think anyway.

I was at an upscale bar tonight that I didn't willfully choose to be in with some people I wasn't particularly interested in knowing and I managed to identify after a long period of thought that the song I heard played over the PA in there was one of their absolutely classic b-sides "Occupation H. Monster". Unbelievable. Thank goodness it was finally released on CD years later in the US otherwise...

theme from the wish!

I did hear "Weirdo" a couple of weeks ago and felt inexplicably happy.

Up To Our Hips sounds awfully fresh lately. I think I underrated it upthread.

'flower' is a terrific song

Do you know why I don't have the Some Friendly album anymore? BECAUSE I AM A DUMBASS, that's why!

No! I'm wrong! I just found it in my CD stacks!!!!! WOOOHOO! POLAR BEAR IS FIRST!!

Charlie Howard is OTM.

Whoa

Download the new Charlatans album for free

Yikes, four songs in and feeling like this is gonna be worse than Simpatico.

Ned you promised to change Norwich to Northwich 5 years ago. sorry to nag and all that :-)

It's a shame the Charlatans haven't produced a truly great album - or at least one that is worthy of the accolade and reissue treatment that some of their 90s contemporaries have received.

But as others have said, they were more than just a good singles band. Most of their albums are patchy but have more good tunes on them than just the single releases.

Can't imagine there's much inspiration left in them now...but always good fun live

This album isn't bad at all, though it doesn't much sound like any particular band (i.e. it's a little bit genericly "English" sounding). Was worth the download, and includes a couple of semi-memorable tracks.

I came to the realization a couple albums ago that The Charlatans haven't been any good at all since Rob Collins died. I don't know if that's a causal link, but it definitely makes sense.

I don't think anyone is going to agree, but I find myself playing "You Cross My Path" with surprising frequency. It's not great or anything, but is pretty solid all the way through and makes for a good default play when I'm sick of all my usual favorites. Faint praise maybe, but the play count is mounting. Possibly the closest to classic rock (in terms of consistency, etc.) that I've been able to find of late. Definitely a lot of New Order in the genes.

Does any 90s album by a major act, on a major label, which was a major success (a UK No. 2), have as cheap-looking an album cover as Us and Us Only?

I don't know, when was Bloodflowers released

It's from February 2000 but I had that on my mind before I posted.

If nothing else the Bloodflowers aesthetic would turn up all over the place around 2016-2020

tbf it's hard to think about these lads without the words "Happy Shopper" springing to mind

I'm not sure how it came up randomly on YouTube, but I heard "The End of Everything" for the first time in thirty years. Sounded fab.

whoa them vibes flowing from somewhere— i truly threw on dwsts because i am self teaching me some guitar and want to figure that opening guitar patch, then I immed by chance hit SNA and this thread was revived.

now on to “the sound of everything” which i cannot recall ?

also i scanned this thread and sweet jeesus 22 UK top 40s?? i need to remove my _obscure cvs singles_ posting on them

The Charlatans are definitely obscure in Centennial, CO hell it's obscure here in the Los Angeles area.

...love those first four, five, six Charlatans albums...

― Bee OK, Wednesday, February 21, 2024 10:00 PM (two days ago)

Hell of a run if you ask me, even if they are just an average band.

Some Friendly (1990)
Between 10th and 11th (1992)
Up to Our Hips (1994)
The Charlatans (1995)
Tellin' Stories (1997)
Us and Us Only (1999)

The Charlatans are definitely obscure in Centennial, CO hell it's obscure here in the Los Angeles area.

They were obscure even when Tim Burgess was living here and DJ'ing at Goldfinger's every week!

i saw them here about year ago with ride, they were p good. he looked great, pretty spry. not sure who was there for which band, but show seemed v well attended.

Funny, “The Only One I Know” just popped up on one of my Spotify mixes today. Guess they’re in the air.