Glasgow School, The

Guitar-based new wave/art pop from Glasgow (these days it would be called indie rock but this is one of the bands that inspired the genre). Male vocals by Edwyn Collins, who later had a solo career... here in 2005 he sounds like a chimera composed of Howard Devoto, Morrisey, Robert Scott, and David Byrne. Guitar based, mostly happy sounding, often sardonic. Material originally released in the late ’70s to early ’80s. Orange Juice inspired a cavalcade of better-known artists including The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, the whole New Zealand/Australia art pop scene (The Go-Betweens, The Chills, The Bats, et al), and newer bands as well such as The Hidden Cameras. Their influences, evident here, included The Velvet Underground, Buddy Holly, The Modern Lovers, The Buzzcocks, Talking Heads, The Feelies, The Slits. This record includes their first album, never previously released in the US, along with lots of singles and some previously-unreleased material. FCC clean. Start with 4, 5, 12, 14, 23.

1. Breezy art pop. Lo-fi and musically ironic. Starts with guitar and drum taps. Slow fade.
2. Instrumental. Happy new wave pop with tambourine.
3. Instrumental. Version of previous song. Lower-fi and higher-energy. Sounds live.
==> 4. High energy new wave pop. One of their big singles from the late ’70s. “My name is blue boy.” The Hidden Cameras sometimes sound like this. Starts with militaristic snare hits. Ends suddenly.
==> 5. High energy new wave pop with sardonic lyrics. The Smiths sound like this. Ends suddenly, then some silence.
6. Bouncy, happy, ironic love song. Features a Theremin.
7. Sounding very Talking Heads. Starts with guitar and alarm clock. Ends suddenly, then a few secs of silence.
8. Swaying, percussive. “The things you do just make me want to scream.”
9. Jazzier, more bass-heavy version of previous song.
10. Quiet pop ballad. “Oooh” background vox. Lovely. Starts with guitars. Slow fade.
11. Jazzy art pop. New Zealand pop sounds like this sometimes. Starts with some lone guitar notes, then spoken “Ready?” “Ohh la la la” background vox. Jazzy. Slows, then quick ending.
==> 12. Quiet, dreamy ballad. Sounds like the Velvet Underground, and Belle & Sebastian sound like this. Starts with solo acoustic guitar.
13. Bouncy & messy, with ’50s motifs. The Bats sound like this sometimes. Starts with tom-tom drumming. Nice bells during instrumental breaks.
==> 14. Another ’50s-ish song, another song The Smiths definitely listened to. Gets a bit higher-energy toward end.
15. Happy, poppy love song for the holiday season.
16. Quiet ballad that (in part two, the following track) becomes a high-energy pop song. Starts with sci-fi noises, then acoustic guitar.
17. High-energy pop song. Can be played separately, but works well with previous track.
18. Bouncy pop. Very nice wandering melody. Starts with full band. At tail of of fade there’s a snare tap.
19. Melancholy pop ballad. Sad lyrics contrast with high energy music. False ending then guitar strum.
20. Sounds like Buddy Holly, sorta... alternates dark with Buzzcocks-like boppy rock. Starts with guitar.
21. New Zealand pop sounds like this, too. “I trusted you.” Starts with full band. Ends suddenly.
22. Disco/funk beat with cheesy synth drums. Closer to what many these days think of as “new wave.” Nicely messy guitar playing. References their song “Simply Thrilled Honey.” Several secs of silence at end.
==> 23. Very noisy, lo-fi recording from 1978 when the band called themselves The Nu-Sonics. Very Ramones-ish, till it starts sounding like Modular Set on Quaaludes. Cool!