Tickled Pinks

Shocking Pinks
Shocking Pinks
Astralwerks, 2007
4.5 stars 4 stars

2007 must have been Year of the Arthur Russell Cover. Jens Lekman, Tracey Thorn and, here, New Zealand's Nick Harte all gave a nod to the late composer's genius. Production was well underway - as far as I know it still is - on a Russell documentary too. Harte's version of You Can Make Me Feel Bad, originally from the glorious Calling Out Of Context compilation, takes the awkward cello of the original and turns it into a blissful low-fi guitar workout - it's a simple, respectful conversion, and the result is gorgeous. In fact, simple and gorgeous are good words to describe Shocking Pinks as a whole. It's a dreamy, hazy concoction of blissed-out noise-rock, rampant garage drums and melancholic atmospherics - and the fact that one man is largely responsible for it makes it all the more impressive. Harte was once drummer for the Brunettes, and his pedigree as a skinsman is evident here - these tunes would be nothing without the beats that push them along. A brisk pace is set early on with This Aching Deal and album highlight How Am I Not Myself?, but slows down later for the bittersweet Girl On The Northern Line before picking up again for Cutout, one of only a couple of tracks on the CD that give any indication to this being a DFA release. Like No Age's Weirdo Rippers, this is a collection of songs that, though recorded seperately, fit together like they were meant to. I just wish I'd heard it before I wrote last year's best of list.

Artwork: C