http://lastyearsgirl.pixlet.net/?p=2232

Just when you thought it was safe to get back onto your feed reader: Lloyd of Peenko fame has spent the past few weeks curating some interesting chat among Scottish music bloggy types* and the focal point thus far has been the inaugural Scottish Bloggers and Music Sites Awards (Scottish BAMS Awards). We were asked to submit our top ten album lists, with the overall winners looking a little like this:

1. The Phantom Band: Checkmate Savage
2. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
3. De Rosa: Prevention
4. King Creosote: Flick the V’s
5. Withered Hand: Good News
6. The Twilight Sad: Forget The Night Ahead
7. We Were Promised Jetpacks: These Four Walls
8. Beerjacket: Animosity
9. Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
10. Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
11. My Latest Novel: Deaths and Entrances
12. Malcolm Middleton: Waxing Gibbous
13. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: S/T
14. You Already Know: S/T
15. Broken Records: Until the Earth Begins to Part
16. The XX: S/T
17. The Antlers: Hospice
18. Sufjan Stevens: The BQE
19. And So I Watch You From Afar
20. Wilco: The Album

Only one of my own Top Ten made the list, which is fine because there’s no accounting for taste it means I have lots of brilliant albums I’m yet to discover.

Andy of our own Phantom Band said of the award: “This makes us feel very honoured because the opinion of people out there giving opinions is what matters most, rather than the financially influenced press. It always amazes me that people would take it upon themselves to go out and champion a band or an album or a band for no material gain, but it gives me faith in human nature. Blogs and reviews have been the only advertising we’ve ever had. Apart from all those people who got online and promoted us, we’d like to thank those little almost-stale doughnuts you get in big tubs from Sainsburys for keeping us fat during the recording. We obviously also have our Producer Paul Savage and the wonderful people at Chemikal Underground to thank for letting us do what we want. These guys are the quiet heroes of Scottish music for sure.”

The chat over the past few days have been brilliant and I’m looking forward to getting to know my fellow bloggers better and hopefully… collaborating on future projects?

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom Band – Halfhound
BUY: Checkmate Savage from Chemikal Underground

[*Participating sites: 17 Seconds; AyeTunes; Dear Scotland; Earz Mag; Elba Sessions; Glasgow PodcART; Hooligan's Lament; Jim Gellatly; JocknRoll; Jockrock; Kowalskiy; Last Year's Girl; Love Shack, Baby; Manic Pop Thrills; My Portis Wasp Says; Off the Beaten Tracks; The Pop Cop; Products of a Gaseous Brain; Song, By Toad; The Blues Bunny; The Daily Growl; The 'Spill; The Steinberg Principle; The Vinyl Villain and Under the Radar.]

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1. Where did you begin 2009?
I toyed with the idea of going out, but the thought of navigating transport or paying for expensive taxis after midnight usually puts me off doing anything in particular. I’m not a big fan of New Year celebrations. While I seem to have no documentary evidence, in the form of the usual photos or blogs, I faintly remember going round to see Lisa and Xan.

2. What was your status by Valentines Day?
My third one with a Stringer in tow. I totes made the best card ever, with confirmation of our trip to see Bruce Springsteen in Dublin for his birthday inside. I might even have managed to keep it a secret until then, too.

3. Were you in school anytime this year?
I decided to take on a photography course at a local college. I lasted two weeks, as the timing was all wrong, but I’m hoping to pick up something similar in 2009.

4. Did you have to go to the hospital?
I had a few appointments to do with my problematic feet and knees, but nothing too serious.

5. Did you have any encounters with the police?
No. I pestered a fireman for a photo in Philadelphia though. As Ness points out: “…I was WITH you when we met at least one quite friendly, if a little intense, policeman…”

6. Where did you go on vacation?
As well as the usual handful of London and Midlands jaunts, there was a trip to Bath and a Springsteenesque weekend in Dublin. Oh, and my big American adventure… but I’ve gone on about that enough already.

7. What did you purchase that was over £100?
A transatlantic flight. Bruce Springsteen tickets. A Coast dress that doesn’t fit yet, but will in time for Julie’s wedding. A shopping spree at Sephora (this was when I thought I had a job to come home to, clearly). Some Vivienne Westwood shoes. A pair of pants – but they’re very, very good pants. But strangely, not my wedding dress.

8. Did you know anybody who got married?
Stephanie and Dallis. This year was all about the engagements, though. Next year is going to be busy on the wedding front…

9. Did you know anybody who passed away?
Sadly there were a few deaths in Stringer’s family, and one of my best friends lost her mum.

10. Did you move anywhere?
No… but I thought about it, a lot.

11. What sporting events did you attend?
I was part of the Molineux Pitch Invasion the day Wolves won promotion to the Premiership! I didn’t make it to Parkhead at all this year, but I doubt much could have topped being part of that moment.

12. What concerts/shows did you go to?
Less than usual, thanks to a change in my circumstances – but I still managed to take in two life-changing Bruce Springsteen shows in two different countries, to get guestlisted for The Hold Steady, to catch an incredible Mountain Goats piano set and to see my new favourite band on the other side of the Atlantic.

13. Describe your birthday.
Once again, I took the piss a little with multiple birthday weekends. Lola took me to see Gillian Anderson’s new play at the Donmar the weekend before, and I had a “dead rock star” themed birthday party (for my 27th) at home the weekend after. On the day itself, I went to my mum’s for a strawberry tart and a present of my grandmother’s charm bracelet.

14. What is the ONE thing you thought you would not do, but did, in 2009?
I got engaged, despite a long-standing and vocal anti-marriage stance.

15. What have been your favourite moments?
Crossing the Wolf River into Arkansas just to say that we did, chasing an epic thunderstorm all the way back to Tennessee. Hearing “Thunder Road” live, and hugging Stringer through “Born To Run” in Dublin. Some nighttime chats. Not getting proposed to though, because I can’t remember it.

16. Any new additions to your family?
No.

17. What was your best month?
I don’t know. My American adventure was fantastic, but as September didn’t end quite so well…

18. Who has been your best drinking buddy?
My brother, and the bookshop crew.

19. Made new friends?
Two new jobs stuffed with awesome people meant that just when I thought my cup runneth over on that score, the whole damn bottle flooded.

20. Favourite Night out?
A Nashville piano bar, my first gin in MONTHS and a Proclaimers request that never got picked up on – but I still managed to sweet-talk the bouncer into giving me a sticker.

21. Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
Here and there and various jobs. I haven’t been out as much this year.

22. Have you lost any friends this year?
I don’t think so, no.

23. Change your hairstyle?
I’ve been growing it since last year’s drastic cut, but it’s still a variation on a theme. My fringe has appeared and disappeared depending on how often I have been bothered to have it cut back in!

24. Have any car accidents?
No, but I decided that 2009 would be the year I finally learned to drive. Carrying on ten years of bad luck in that regard my lessons got off to a false start for health reasons, and then my instructor quit – and, by the time I came back from holiday ready to start again, I’d lost my job and couldn’t afford to. I am still determined to learn to drive, one day – but not right now.

25. How old did you turn this year?
27. I didn’t half go on about it.

26. Do you have a New Years resolution?
My new year’s resolution always boils down to the same thing: to live life to the full, and to have fun while doing it.

27. Do anything embarrassing?
Me, embarrassed? Never. We got kicked out of a taxi on Saturday night though, which probably counts.

28. Buy anything from eBay?
Five wigs inspired by members of Status Quo and a miniature video recorder.

29. Get married or divorced?
Step One on the road to the former.

30. Get hit on?
I’m always getting hit on, me. Ha ha ha!

31. Been snowboarding?
No, and no chance.

32. Did you get sick this year?
I’ve had a pretty bad case of the brainflu, for want of a better term, for much of this year – plus the usual coughs and colds.

33. Are you happy to see 2009 go?
I feel like I should be saying no; life’s too short as it is… but, truth be told, I’ve felt like hell practically every day this year and seen too many bad things happen to the people I love. The calendar turning changes nothing, but I feel as if psychologically I’m ready for a new number.

34. Been naughty or nice?
Always nice, with a hint of wickedness.

35. What are you looking forward to most in 2010?
The party of the century on Saturday, 24th July. And maybe – just maybe – finally figuring out my place in the world.

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I’m not feeling in any way festive, but anticipated or otherwise I seem to be in slowdown as we approach the end of the year. So, although I’d like to get my musical/photographic A to Z all posted and obviously there are mixes still to come, you probably won’t see much in the way of posting from me now until the calendar turns.

I’ve got a few things in mind. I know I fancy trying some kind of photographic diary again, probably hosted here as my Flickr Pro account must be due to expire and I can’t justify its renewal with a whole domain at my disposal. I’ve got a few things to think about before deciding what direction the blog will take and how it will intercept with my journalistic “career” – if, indeed, that’s something I still want to pursue. I’m not sure at the moment. I always suspected that thinking about doing something for a living would take all of the fun of it.

But there’s always room for one last hurrah in the form of my traditional end-of-year lists and awards!

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S FAVOURITE, IF NOT THE BEST, ALBUMS OF 2009:

10. Leona Naess: Thirteens [buy]
The very definition of a slow burner: a woozy, wonderous album for Sunday-morning listening that slips under the skin; graceful and gorgeous. Leona Naess’ voice is like melting butter.

9. MJ Hibbett & the Validators: Regardez, Ecoutez and Repetez [buy]
Indie rules ok! There’s nothing complicated about this gloriously good fun collection of mischief and song.
I said: [I]t’s a giggle-a-minute tale of whimsy, bad dancing, conversations on the internet about Morrissey… all delivered in joyous indiepop technicolour. (July)

8. David Bazan: Curse Your Branches [buy]
First solo album proper from onetime Pedro the Lion.
I said: Less a ‘breakup with God’ than one side of an ongoing, unresolved conversation; proud and unafraid. (July)

7. William Elliott Whitmore: Animals in the Dark [buy]
There’s nothing complicated about this dark, old-timey record and its enchanting-voiced singer.
I said: Just arrived… a dark, folky record I overheard in Monorail a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with. (March)

6. Withered Hand: Good News [buy]
There’s not much I haven’t already said about the lo-fi Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter.
I said: [H]is work is less mystical I guess, pining like the rest of my generation in a grotty sandstone bedsit; all sexual frustration bad language and all-night instant messenger drama and years of residual Catholic school guilt. (August)

5. The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World To Come [buy]
John Darnielle’s biblically-themed record is by turns sparse and heartbreaking.
I said: …those sort of strange lovesongs that Darnielle pens so well, with his talent for that one heartstopping line delivered in just such a way with scratchy, spellbinding cello or piano. (September)

4. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit [buy]
Classic rocking brilliance from one-time Drive By Trucker.
I said: [P]retty much all I’ve listened to for the past fortnight has been the Gaslight Anthem and Jason Isbell.November)

3. Emmy the Great: First Love [buy]
Simple, evocative and heartbreaking debut from a girl I’ve had my eye on for a long time.
I said: I’ve bought three copies of this record already – both for my own consumption and for various birthday presents – and I cannot recommend it highly enough.(March)

2. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone [buy]
Flame-haired singer’s album storms and rages.
I said: “I’m a man, man, maneater,” croons the songstress on “People Got a Lotta Nerve”, so warmly that you realise you could never resist. (March)

1. Lucero: 1372 Overton Park [buy]
Tennessee troupe’s major label debut brings the rock, the roll – and the whole goddamn horn section.
I said: One fucked hero and heroine, outrunning their past on the back of a beat-up motorcycle, unknown and beautiful and battered as only Ben Nichols can tell it. (November)

2009’s Honourable Mentions: Elvis Perkins in Dearland, S/T; Kill It Kid, S/T; Richmond Fontaine, We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River; There Will Be Fireworks, S/T
2009’s Albums Which Might Have Made The List Had I Had Them Longer Than A Week: The Avett Brothers, I And Love And You.

Of course, they say the devil is in the detail, and there’s plenty of that after the jump.

MOST DISAPPOINTING FOLLOW-UP ALBUM TO A PREVIOUS TOP TEN CONTENDER AWARD:
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream: like a rehash of Magic, only workmanlike rather than magical. Made up for by some stomping live performances though, as we shall see…

BEST COMPILATION ALBUM:
Various Artists, Dark Was The Night: A Red Hot Compilation (4AD). A stellar lineup, and all for charity!

BEST MOST BONKERS USE OF THE INTERNET:
Doubling up with the “Ryan Adams has to win something” category; this year it goes to PAX AM Records. Suuuuuure, you’re giving up music, Ryan.

EP OF THE YEAR:
Yim Yames, Tribute To: the My Morning Jacket frontman beautifully perfoms the songs of George Harrison.

“HEY! YOU! GET OFF OF MY FEED READER!” AWARD (SPONSORED BY RADIOWANK)
The XX. Uhhh… is it supposed to do something?

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S TOP SONGS OF 2009 (END OF YEAR MIXES SOON!)
5. Beerjacket, “Dancing in the Dark”
4. Langhorne Slim, “Colette”
3. Bell X1: “The Great Defector”
2. Neko Case, “This Tornado Loves You”
1. Lucero, “Darken My Door”

BAND OF THE YEAR:
The Gaslight Anthem

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S TOP GIGS OF 2008:
3. The Gaslight Anthem @ Cincinnati Bogarts, 9th September [blog]
2. July and August’s Drive Carefullys, which seem to blend into one inside my head [July blog and August blog]
1. Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band @ Glasgow Hampden Park, 14th July [closely followed by the same at Dublin RDS Simmonscourt, 12th July blog]

MUSIC BLOKE OF THE YEAR
Bruce Springsteen, for turning sixty and still being the most awesome thing ever.

MUSIC BIRD OF THE YEAR:
Halina Rifai of Glasgow PodcART – the hardest-working woman in the Glasgow music scene.

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN COLLABORATION AWARD:
Craig Finn co-writing the movie adaptation of Chuck Klosterman’s Fargo Rock City (have I mentioned how much I love Chuck Klosterman)? Jay Farrarr and Ben Gibbard soundtracking a Jack Kerouac documentary? Not that I’ve opened the CD because I don’t want to hear it before I watch the documentary before I read the book… argh. One of those two, anyway.

MOST ANTICIPATED 2010 RELEASE:
TheNationalTheNationalTheNational.

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S ULTIMATE MUSIC MOMENT OF 2009:
My all-time favourite song live, with my favourite people. Oh, I was in FLOODS.

LAST YEAR’S GIRL NEEDS TO STOP ORDERING WORTHY FOREIGN FILMS SHE NEVER WATCHES, AND START FILLING HER LOVEFILM LIST WITH HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE. SHE LIKED THESE THOUGH:
10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
9. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
8. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
7. The Damned United
6. The Wrestler
5. (500) Days of Summer
4. Broken Embraces
3. Coraline 3D
2. In The Loop
1. Frost/Nixon

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S WORST FILM OF 2009:
Tranformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. I missed Springsteen at Glastonbury for this, etc. A bitter disappointment as I really loved the first one, but how a film can be so tedious while featuring that many explosions I don’t know.

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Christmas tunes and a best of 2009 round-up on Sunny Govan Switchback tomorrow night. Tune in if you’re in the Glasgow area: Paul’s tastes usually overlap with mine, so you should be in for a treat.

Alternatively, there’s the Glasgow PodcART Christmas Party at the 13th Note if you’re in a party mood – I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, so I haven’t decided yet!

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I’m quite proud of what I’ve come up with on this little series of pictures, so I’m going to attempt a little bit of mp3 blogging/self-portrait crossover based around a current music-related sub-project within a project. Follow that if you will, or just download the songs and tell me I’m pretty

At this point in my project we were back in the Midlands for the weekend, visiting the in-laws. Jay’s father is in the process of selling up the incredible old house he has been running as a B&B with his wife. I loved this few-hundred year old original Jackfield tile floor, among the many little details I wasn’t able to capture properly as I wasn’t feeling inspired with the camera at the weekend.

DOWNLOAD: The Weakerthans – One Great City
BUY: Reconstruction Site at Amazon.co.uk

http://lastyearsgirl.pixlet.net/?p=2177

Dear Santa,

I’m not seriously planning to ask for anything this year, because it would be a bit rich with a wedding coming up and money being a bit tight. However, so I can look back and laugh next year, in an ideal world I would ask for:

- some really cosy M&S jammies like these ones or these;
- the new Chuck Klosterman (have I mentioned how much I love Chuck Klosterman?);
- a Vestalife Ladybug docking station;
- the complete history of Craig Finn and Tad Kubler’s old band;
- maybe a(nother) cute sweater dress;
- some Uggs, as my fake ones are so bloody comfy, or alternatively some ridiculous heels;
- that Thunder Road t-shirt I’ve wanted since Dublin;
- a 21.5″ iMac;
- a slanket
- a Camera Shy necklace from This Charming Girl, and a Gorillapod…

To be honest though, I’d rather all my friends and family had a fantastic 2010.

Big love,
Lis xoxo

[Cheers to Helen for the inspiration.]

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September this year marks ten years since I made my first, tentative and over-sharey, foray into blogging. I hope you’ll forgive a little self-indulgence on my part, but I’d like to do something to celebrate a pretty significant milestone. I’ve hit upon the idea of publishing some selected takes from my archives – there’s a little bit of poetic license required here, as some of the proper cringeworthy teenage stuff is (thankfully) lost in the mists and pixels of cyberspace, but what I’ll publish every Friday from here until the end of the year is culled from the LiveJournal years, 2003-2006.

I’ve picked this post with Lola sitting on the other sofa

7th April 2004
I’m pretty sure the first time we saw Legally Blonde was on my sister’s last birthday. She and her best friend slept in the living room and I stayed up until two to watch a video with them because, let’s face it, I was probably online. And they had sweets. You can tell she has missed having her big sister around – she hasn’t told me to fuck off once when I’ve come whimpering for chocolate bars.

At the time I was struggling my way though Finals (as you’ll no doubt remember – it was all I talked about for six months, that and my dissertation) armed only with Nescafe, gummy bears and a succession of £5 photocopying cards. That would explain why I found the ease with which Elle Woods passed though Harvard Law School incredibly offensive.

We’ve since seen the sequel at the cinema and I bought her the video as part of her birthday present. She’s watching it right now – she’s watched it every night, as far as I can tell – and is trying to tempt me with all that is pink and preppy, but I feel as if I have writing to do.

My eighteenth birthday fell on a Friday. It was the beginning of June, the weather was starting to get warmer and, although the results wouldn’t be in for some time yet, we had just finished our exams and were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves for having made it through our first year of law school.

My best friend and I were huge X-Files fans at the time (we still are, but sanity creeps in when the show you base your life around is no longer in production or in every magazine, no matter what they’ve been saying in the last ten days or so…) and so it was perfect that David Duchovny was starring in a movie released that very day. I met Lola in Central Station, in the traditional under-the-clock meeting spot I’ve used since high school (this was before they put the bloody Tie Rack right there, obviously) and we saw Return To Me at the soon-to-be-demolished Odeon* on Renfield Street.

[*NB Five years later, it's still there.]

I’ve never been one for great big parties. We called them ‘tays in high school and there were a good few of them that year – soulless affairs, the sort of night where everybody has too much to drink and dances like a tit, you let your best friend pull the boy you like to get back at her fuckwad ex and the DJ refuses to play “Walk Unafraid” for you and your mate even when she’s got Up in her bag. Sheryll’s birthday was a few months before mine and she’d invited our little group from university through to her hometown for the weekend. We made punch from whatever we could find in the kitchen and we all passed out in armchairs and danced to Fleetwood Mac on Sunday morning.

That was what I wanted. A nice night with my closest friends, not having to invite people to make up the numbers and yell small talk before shuffling off for another drink. I decided on a meal out – everybody pays for themselves and there’s no cleaning up in the morning – and it’s since become something of a tradition.

Lola had a new dress she wanted to wear, so we got ready in the cinema toilets. I discovered I’d forgotten the earrings I wanted to wear and had to buy some in Claires in the station while we waited for the others.

We went to TGI Fridays and it was lovely. I had a bacon cheeseburger and my first strawberry daiquiri. The people I loved gave me such lovely presents and we took pictures of my Pikachu getting drunk on Smirnoff Ice.

It was raining as we left, just a little, but we took a group picture anyway. Somebody tied a balloon to my backpack. Neil-bear carried my bags of presents, although they were pink and fluffy.

He got knocked back from the Garage that night, whether for being drunk or being seventeen first and foremost I can’t remember. I was a cheeky little thing and almost did myself, back-chatting the bouncer who tried to wish me a happy birthday when it was already twenty minutes into the 10th.

But you know what? It’s like 2 months and 2 days until I’m 22 and we can do it all over again.

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Lists, lists, lists. Normally, I’m all over that shit but is anybody else becoming increasingly bored by the extra notch the end of the decade has ramped up the this time of year’s traditional list-making frenzy?

And yet, I still play along. It’s an interesting exercise by which to measure my changing tastes, and besides – how else to see the Gaslight Anthem’s 2008 album recognised as one of my near-constant musical touchstones this year?

It’s strange: a few months ago I remember distinctly wondering how to give this blog more of a “voice”, some kind of running theme that would tie the fractured threads of my thoughts together. Recently I’ve been working on a growing number of musical features – and yet, I wonder if that is really what I want to be doing.

Something to think about as we move into the next decade, perhaps.

Anyway, on the offchance you are interested, here’s a quick rundown of how my 2008 favourites have fared in my affections twelve months on. My 2009 list will follow next week.

10. Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs [5]
They’re not indie Death Cab. They’re not going to be indie Death Cab again. But they’re still going to produce gorgeously overpowering songs like “I Will Possess Your Heart” in all its eight minute splendour, so what’s to complain about?

9. Sun Kil Moon: April [4]
The perfect dreamy springtime shower to see you through any journey spent making finger marks in dirty windows.

8. The Indelicates: American Demo [NE]
Wickedly cynical, lyrical indie that seems to get better with extended listens.

7. The Hold Steady: Stay Positive [1]
Shush. I still love it. Just not as much as their older albums.

6. Laura Marling: Alas, I Cannot Swim [8]
One of those charmers you forget just how incredible it is until you listen to it. Side note: was listening to Marling’s Christmas single earlier, and now cannot wait for forthcoming album #2.

5. Blitzen Trapper: Furr [NE]
One of my Princeton treasures, an album of melodic alt.folk with secretly dark themes.

4. Amanda Palmer: Who Killed Amanda Palmer [NE]
Deranged, epic, angry, beautiful.

3. Kathleen Edwards: Asking for Flowers [=]
My own first lady of alternative country, whose third album is by turns both ballsy and tragic.

2. The Gaslight Anthem: The ‘59 Sound [NE]
It’s a shame what has technically been my album of 2009 is inelligible for entry to this year’s list, but seeing them in Cincinnati was one of its highlights.

1. Matthew Ryan: Matthew Ryan vs. The Silver State [2]
One of those go-to albums I suspect will pick me up on bad days for years to come.

http://lastyearsgirl.pixlet.net/?p=2164

I’m quite proud of what I’ve come up with on this little series of pictures, so I’m going to attempt a little bit of mp3 blogging/self-portrait crossover based around a current music-related sub-project within a project. Follow that if you will, or just download the songs and tell me I’m pretty

So it’s a slightly more futuristic take on a "Walkman", but since I had been writing about my old favourite grrl bands at the time I decided "V" ought to be for Veruca Salt.

Oh, and the image editing was done with Poladroid.

DOWNLOAD: Veruca Salt – With David Bowie
BUY: Eight Arms to Hold You at Amazon.co.uk

http://lastyearsgirl.pixlet.net/?p=2159

Apparently, we’re not supposed to say nice things about our friends’ musical projects anymore, even if we mean them. Or so Jim at Aye Tunes discovered at the weekend there, on some receipt of some interestingly-spelled hate mail. This isn’t good news for a blog which actually has its own tag labeled “shameless nepotism”, but it’s not as if I have time to write about things I don’t care about anyway – no matter how nice you are to me.

This is good news for Adam, with whom I regularly exchange a bit of banter with on Twitter and who sent me over a copy of his label – the London-based Trash Aesthetics‘ – latest release: Come Dig Me Up by The Tailors. It’s a pleasant little alternative country style number, therefore right up this blog’s street. The problem? Adam is also the lead singer.

But I’m going to review it anyway.

The album – I keep wanting to call it “Come Pick Me Up” for obvious reasons – opens with “Pictures of Her”. It’s thirty seconds of pretty little one-man-and-his-guitar winsomeness and heartbreak before bursting into flame (quite literally, if you listen to the lyrics) and an epic choral lament of lost love and teenage petulance. In a way, it’s the perfect starting point for an album which according to the press release came about when the band’s original second album was lost forever on a corrupt hard drive.

From then on, the album doesn’t let up. It’s nine tracks of just lovely, summery power-pop goodness in the Big Star vein. It’s a big-hearted record you just want to hug, bursting with optimism and good humour. Tracks like “Bow Road”, “Animal Humour” and “Forever Fade” are the sort of bright, catchy, breezy songs every mixtape needs, while “Mush Love” has a fantastic seventies drivetime radio feel.

So you know when you listen to the saddest of sad songs, and you pore over the lyrics and start to make up the story behind it? Come Dig Me Up’s title track isn’t some extended metaphor: the reason those arms are too small to hold and that skin is too cold to touch is… it’s actually about a dinosaur. But you could take it the other way if you’d rather. Keeping on the reptilian theme, “Crocodiles” is the prettiest song on the album – and “Impossible Wonder” is lovely too; understated, Killip’s voice cracking with just the right note of warmth.

There you go. Love, fire and reptiles. It doesn’t get any better, regardless of who your friends are.

DOWNLOAD: Animal Humour
LISTEN: to The Tailors at Myspace
BUY: Come Dig Me Up at Trash Aesthetics