The Bitter Springs – And Even Now EP (UPDATED with Xmas No1 Video)
You shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a new record by The Bitter Springs. They come along every so often, usually without fanfare, but they are always a warm, lovely and memorable treat, like finding a tenner in the pocket of an old pair of jeans, getting four numbers on the lottery or having a Kit Kat that’s all chocolate and no wafer.
Hailing from Teddington in South-West London, The Bitter Springs have been producing consistently great records at greatly inconsistent frequencies since 1996. In Simon Rivers they have a lyricist to match the insight, warmth and wit of a peak-period Cocker or Bragg, delivering tales of doomed romance, cracked family life, searing social comment and everything in between.
Like kindredish spirits Animals That Swim (more on them another time), Bitter Springs channel a Bukowski-esque world view, relocated from LA to the streets of London.
No subject matter is off-limits, and the same goes for the music, which takes brilliantly-crafted pop as its start point and can meander over the course of an album to take in indie-rock, country, electro, finger-picked acoustica and woozy pub rock.
As if to prove that point, the latest Bitter Springs release And Even Now offers five radically different versions of the same song. Forget your contractually-obliged remix b-sides where the third snare hit in the second verse is slightly louder – these re-workings highlight the ambition of the band and make you wonder what they could do with a proper record deal and a fraction of the budget that duller bands operate with.
The original version (below) is rocked-up, slowed-down, given a disco sheen and royally Frenched across the course of the EP.
Given airplay by Steve Lamacq, it’s a download-only release available from the usual places – iTunes, play.com, amazon and the like. You know you should, just to savour the following…
“And even now I’d jack it all,
Before I’d beg, before I’d crawl,
Good guys come last, that suits me fine,
I’ve seen what lies beyond the finishing line.
And by the way, let’s not forget
You made your be and you died in it,
I’d jack it all, ’cause that’s not me,
I don’t play games, I’m not Morrissey”
Getting the chance to play records by the likes of Bitter Springs was the greatest thing about our show. With no playlist and a free reign to bring in anything you fancied (as long as it wasn’t too bleak or packed full of MFs), you got a great chance to revisit songs that somehow bypassed radio the first time round.
A Christmas No. 1 was originally hidden away on the Barbara EP, released with noble disregard to the seasons in May 1998 (it eventually found its way onto the Benny Hill’s Wardrobe LP).
In a parallel universe, Fairytale Of New York is a hidden gem, clutched to the bosom of a few hardy souls, while A Christmas No. 1 by Bitter Springs is all over the radio at this time of year, bawled along to by sozzled blokes at pubs and office parties, while the band grudgingly grant permission for it to be used in the final, no doubt tear-jerking scene of the Gavin & Stacey Xmas Special.
“Everybody works for free, let’s hear it for the family
Who was it said ‘what don’t kill me can only make me stronger’?
Because I believe in Santa Claus, he’s in the kitchen on all fours
With Rudolph patching up his sores in a drug and sherry frenzy”
The excellent news is that a suitably tragi-comic video has just been released to accompany the song, and hopefully push it into the public consciousness, where it belongs…
The records generally aren’t that easy to find, although a Google or eBay search will throw up a few bones, and you can pick up a few of them from Cargo. Otherwise the entire Bitter Springs back catalogue is available to download through iTunes.
I could sit here and quote lyrics all day, but I’ll finish up with a snatch of Big Sweaty Dad (another song that should have been all over the radio, to the point where you’re almost sick of it as you hear it being played on building sites, in creches and accompanying the funny clips montage on Sports Personality Of The Year, but instead was snuck away out of sight as an extra track on 2006′s Big Trace EP)…
“He thinks he looks like Bob De Niro
And if he does it’s in Raging Bull though
Towards the end when he put on 60 pounds
He uses words like ‘constitutional’, ‘my ablutions’, ‘negate’ and ‘perusal’
But luckily it’s only when he’s messing around
He thinks a sign of maturity is red wine and a jazz cd
He can’t wait ‘til he receives the last stickers that he needs”
Their MySpace has a bunch of songs, videos and lyrics, along with links to download the records. You can also discover their previous incarnation as Last Party. Enjoy.
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