"Do you really need anymore of this shit?" asked the good lady wife as a Madder Rose 10" maxi-single dropped through the letter box courtesy of Mr eBay.
Fighting back the urge to say "Yes, I need all of this 'shit' as you so delicately put it; because if I don't remember Madder Rose then who will?" I simply put the kettle on and began to explain at length how important proper indie pop was before Blur got all wanky and invented "BritPop". That soon sent here to sleep.
So, Madder Rose then. Turns out they were an American band. It also turns out that the word "twee" is used an awful lot when describing them. They've got a brief page on Wikipedia and John Peel let them do a session (presumably whilst high on ether) and Rolling Stone magazine of all publications says:
As rock & roll teeters on the edge of the millennium, dream pop has swirled onto the music scene. It's as if the global psyche were dividing: the brutality of grunge or the buttercup sighs of the Cranberries, the Sundays, Frente! and Slowdive. But the alloy of the two sounds is most compelling...
Which tells you nothing. Still, it's very nice and in the interests of archiving the early 90s, here it is:
Madder Rose - Panic On
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Madder Rose
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Madder Rose - a poor man's Juliana Hatfield (swoon)...
ReplyDeleteWeren't they all like heroin addicts?
ReplyDeleteNow, I've no idea whether Andy is right, but according to this link, guitarist Billy Cote did, at certain points in time, struggle with a heroin addiction. As for the rest of the band..?
ReplyDeletewhat's interesting regarding anonymous's post to me is that I went to Way Ahead Records in Leeds to buy JH's Become What You Are LP, but they were playing Madder Rose's debut LP instore, and I bought it instead.
ReplyDeleteone of their ep's contains a great jackson 5 cover.
ReplyDeleteand also, i saw them in 1994 opening for hole. strange.
I used to love Madder Rose. I first heard them on NME's Album of the Year, although I can't be arsed digging it out to see what year. I'm guessing 1994.
ReplyDeleteTheir eponymous song, Madder Rose, is really quite good.
Wasn't Madder Rose also on a SELECT free cassette. I think they featured as a SELECT poster too and therefore ended up as a picture on my wall.
ReplyDeletesaw them live at the Arches in Glasgow, loudest gig i've ever been to, but that may just because I stood directly in front of the speaker stack. then went out to Tower Records (they opened until midnight) and bought their single
ReplyDeleteMadder rose were ace
ReplyDeleteI think they did three labums
bu the first two are kinda the prime madder rose stuff
Mary Lorsen the lead singer has done some other stuff post madder rose too.
Hey Rose / Hey Madder / Hey Rose, do I make you sadder?
ReplyDeleteMein gott you have just recaptured my childhood. Thank you.
I found out a bit of background about 'Madder Rose' on this Facebook group, lots of pictures of all their releases and a few publicity shots.......the lead singer Mary is still recording.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4601282419
'Car song' is great, anyone who hasn't heard it, hear it here
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEG4vChHpM
Matt Dela Ray , the original bass player has gone on to start Heavy Trash with Jon Spencer (of the jsbx) and have released two fantastic albums
ReplyDeletemc fontaine
NN1 - Northampton,
The New Barcelona
"Your arms in a wild rotation". What's that song? Love it.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the total underselling of Madder Rose that is going on here - a poor man's Juliana Hatfield - Pah! JH isn't fit to lick Mary Lorson's shoes!
ReplyDeleteMadder Rose's debut album 'Bring It On' is a total clasic and Mark Lorson's voice is a gift from the gods.
Check out her second solo album 'Tricks For Dawn' which is also brilliant.
"your arms in a wild rotation" that's a song called 'Swim' from the "Bring It Down" album.
ReplyDeleteIt was #2 in John Peel's Festive 50 one year, beaten to the top spot by a Chumbawamba/Credit To The Nation collaboration. Criminally.
Madder Rose fan here. When I was 15 odd, Beautiful John was one of my favorite tunes.
ReplyDeleteThey suffered from an attack of the 'Portisheads' in the late 90's, dropped most of the guitars, and lost a considerable amount of their appeal for me.
This tune's a classic, for sure.
Now, if we're talking pre-brit pop indie of note, I don't think you've posted anything from the 'Do-Badleys' (you know, the Boos). May I suggest something from Everything's Alright Forever'? My old band used to cover 'Skyscraper', which is almost more Ride than Ride could ever be.
Top blog! Thanks!
http://www.staticglasgow.co.uk
ReplyDeleteGlasgow's best unsigned shoegazing band from the early 90's
Say, Blur are great!
ReplyDelete