Super Natural

I got lost this morning, that’s a regular thing though, I get lost quite regularly, you see I have this thing where I see a little bit of congestion and think, oh, I will try that road instead, couple that with my shockingly poor navigation skills and that equals unscheduled diversions to Tamworth and Sutton Coldfield, still I get to see the countryside of the West Midlands.
So the soundtrack to me being lost this morning was the album Super Natural by Bennet. Wikipedia tells me that it was their debut, I am not convinced.
Bennet were a bit of an oddity in that they were an overtly indie band signed to an overtly metal label, Roadrunner, whilst they on the surface appear to have been influenced by Blur, their labelmates tend to have been influenced by one of Satans minions. The single time I saw Bennet was supporting Echobelly in Wolverhampton and to this day they remain the loudest band I have ever seen, and whilst outside the venue a group of girls mistook me for the lead singer Jason Applin, I can only assume that he was fat and speccy with jug ears.
So what of the album? In the 90’s the mid to late 90’s when this album was released, certain bands had this habit of creating these characters and singing about them, Blur to my mind started it, but the likes of Rialto and Echobelly and Sleeper also did this, and it seems that Bennet do it also, and to be frank it gets on my tits. Also secret tracks on albums, I get it, it’s a sneaky little thing after so many minutes silence, a treat, an unexpected treat, well it would be if you don’t put on the sleeve 16. Secret Track.
So that’s the cons, putting them aside, it was an enjoyable album, lots of tracks that I enjoyed at the time, Some one always gets there first, mum has gone to Iceland etc, and some tracks I cant recall and very few of those that I didn’t like. As a soundtrack to me cursing myself that I was lost AGAIN, it was very effective, certainly enjoyable. Applins voice is distinctive enough to be unique but without being grating, the songs aside from the points mentioned earlier are strong and resolutely upbeat and it was a reminder of how much I used to enjoy Bennet.
These days Applin is in the bands The Headclub and The Vending Machine Heart, as for the other members, google wasn’t so accommodating.
7 out of 10.



Mum Has Gone To Iceland by Bennet.

Valentine's Day

You may wonder, why the photo of what looks like a 'full English'? 'I've logged on to read amateurish and badly spelled music posts that lack insight and judgement, and you've gone all Master Chef on me'. The 'baked' beans weren't up to scratch to be an 'English', but for a Kiwi take on it (Kiwi owned cafe), in Chile, the Mrs (who has sampled authentic fayre in the greasy spoons of West Ealing, Northfields and the pubs of Shropshire) declared it 'lovely', through a mouth full of sausage.

It often perplexes me as to why, after spending time and effort creating a pleasant atmosphere, perfecting a menu, and spending a fortune on tables, chairs and lighting, the owners of eateries pay so little attention to the music they play. Is Barry White an aid to digestion?

The posh brunch, in an upmarket backstreet, was because of Valentine's Day, which I usually don't recognise. This year I recognised it as an opportunity to have posh poached eggs with smolked salmon on toast, and my digestion was actually aided by the Everley Brothers wafting through the precariously mounted wall speakers. At the end of a confusing conversation with the Mrs, it turned out she was confusing the Everleys with the Blues Brothers, which explained her continuous mentioning of 'their sunglasses'. Also played was Tony Bennett's 'Rags to Riches', by which time we were on the small coffees and 600 peso biscuits.

My only complaint was the fact that one speaker was in one room, and the other in another room, so the miracle of stereo made it sound like some of the musicians were on the far side of the joint. At one point I worried for the group of gringos who were seated about six metres to my left, as I thought they were being attacked by trombonists.

So, here is a Valentine's Day threesome, made up of 2 I heard while mopping up my egg with French Bread, and The Godfathers, who always used to play their Valentine's Day Massacre gig.

Birth, School, Work Death by The Godfathers

Walk Right Back by The Everly Brothers


Rags to Riches by Tony Bennett (it's on The Goodfellas Soundtrack)