HOME

REVIEWS

- RSS Feed

SoundsXP Presents

tba

On Our iPod

Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Third Swan single

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (album)

Tashaki Miyaki - sings the Everly Brothers 7”

Antony Harding - The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me (album)

Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

Latest Forum Posts

Album Review

Thee Spivs
Black and White Memories Damaged Goods

Article written by James S - Nov 28, 2011

Thee Spivs - Black and White Memories

I've seen two absolutely stupendous gigs in recent weeks in the form of Summer Camp at Efes in Dalston and Gillian Welch at Hammersmith Apollo. Both saw artists heavily influenced by the past add their own unique modern stamp on the music they play. Thee Spivs are similarly rooted in a bygone age but have absolutely nothing new to bring to the party.

'Black and White Memories' is an all too apt title for this utterly joyless collection of second rate, second division punk tosh. The three chord riffing and grating vocal sneers could easily have graced any number of Damaged Goods' discography of late 70s reissues and should really only be of interest to those sad old blokes with mohicans hanging out in Camden. And probably Steve Lamacq.

So what are Thee Spivs angry about? The global economic crisis? Pointless, needless wars being conducted in our name? Nope – they have some friends who are jealous (on, erm, Jealous Friend) and know some dull self important people (Your Time). Not forgetting celebrity culture, which gets a fearful kicking on 15 Minutes (sample lyric: “look in the mirror, what do you see? Just another-nother nobody!” That's them told then.) Thee Spivs is an anagram of 'shit peevs' by the way.

And yet, somehow these are not the worst crimes on this piss-poor excuse for a record. Step forward Flickin V's, a schoolboy effort in every sense with its stuck in a timewarp tales of classroom misdemeanours plumbing new lows of cringeworthy shite. Thankfully the whole thing is mercifully short at around half an hour but when singer Ben Edge inform us that “I'm a bad hunter, but I know I can't shoot myself” on the atrocious Bad Hunter, you can't help but wish that he'd give it a go all the same.

Links:
http://www.theespivs.com
http://www.damagedgoods.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/theespivs