Thursday 10 June 2010

The mysterious case of Bubblegum Lemonade

In these days of The Worldwide Internets it's really hard to remain anonymous, but that's what Laz McCluskey, the person behind Bubblegum Lemonade (and Strawberry Whiplash) does quite easily indeed, ta very much. No gigs, no interviews, nothing.

But if self-imposed hermitude from the pop scene means you come up with moments of majesty like 'Caroline's Radio' then maybe a few more bands should buy stock up on a few hundred cans of beans and hole up for a while.

'Caroline's Radio' tells the tale of bedtime pirate radio listening, and all the romance that covert experience undoubtedly brought. An ode to Radio Caroline, then, but one that swoops and glides and has the best guitar solo since, oooh, I dunno, Ride's 'Chelsea Girl', or something.

Over on the b-side, and the hits keep coming. 'Stalling and Laughing' features a cheeky wink to Edwyn Collins in that title and is a perfect blast of psych-pop, whilst 'Looking to the Sun' starts off like The Byrds 'Turn, Turn, Turn' before relaxing into a louche Jesus & Mary Chain haze. It's pretty wonderful, as you can imagine.

You can download 'Caroline's Radio' here, and you can buy the single from Matinee here .

Now go away and leave this man to make more wonderful records in peace.

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