Though arriving a bit later, saying that The Thanes are to the British/European moderndaze garage beat scene what The Chesterfield Kings are to the American one, would be a pretty safe bet.
As for this album (an updated re-release of ’97 album released on Teen Sound’s mother-label Misty Lane), again, it’s not too unlike the ‘Kings’ own Where The Action Is, consisting mostly of covers, with just a couple of originals thrown in for the good measure.
Also, regarding the actual choice of covers, while the Rochester bunch mostly opt for well known “nuggets”, the Edinburgh lads tend to introduce you to the more obscure stuff, which is probably why most of the fans treasure their records as, for example, The Poets against the Chocolate Watchband, with the latter obviously being the more important, while the former, in most cases, is the one which you are ready to pay more for.
Of course, it’s the originals that make them what they are, covering pretty much most of the mid’60s sub-genres, with Thrown Away The Key being a Brummels-like folk-rocking jangle, Uphill Slide is just a Stone-throw away from the genuine early’60s r’n’b boom, Shipwreck mixes early Them balladery and moody Animalisms, while What’s It All For and Static is a pair of nothing but pure beat perfection.
As for the covers-section, it ranges from the expected Poets, through a dose of Dutchbeat (The Outsiders, The Sound Magics, The Motions), a little bit of Scandibeat (The Mascots, Thor’s Hammer-not really Scandi but close enough), some American garage (The Pack, The Effects, The Caretakers of Deception, The Guess Who-same comment as for Thor’s Hammer), to the kinda surprising (very) early Floyd (Lucy Leave) and even TV Personalities.
What makes the actual complete-ition, are the six recordings previously available through different vinyl-only releases.
[Released by Teen Sound 2006]
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