Friday 27 February 2009

Gutterpressville, Arizona

Many years ago, in the dim and distant early '90s, there was a duo of south London lads named Fruitbat and Jim Bob who went by the collective name of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (nifty name, eh).

Before Blur and Oasis there was Carter. They were a breath of fresh air at the time with the driving guitar, the thick layers of sound and the intelligent and humorous lyrics. I liked that they sang about New Cross and Tulse Hill, slum landlords and army racism - there was a brain behind the words and that brain also devised incredible songs. I got the lads' double 'best of' in 2007 and spin it every now and then when I want some loudness.

I had '1992: The Love Album' on cassette back then and played it endlessly on my walkman on the way to and from work. It's on Amazon for £3.99 at the moment so I indulged and bought it. It sounds just as good today as it did back then. 'Suppose You Gave A Funeral And Nobody Came' is one of their classic songs that I've missed hearing over the intervening years. Good on ya!

And they're getting back together to play a couple of dates - all sold out I think (as usual). They're playing two albums at The Forum and two others at Brixton. Unfortunately, '1992' is being played at The Forum, one of my least favourite venues - if it had been at Brixton then I'd definitely have tried for tickets. Carter USM make me happy. Live, I'm sure I'd be extra happy! Have fun, lads!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember reading once upon a time that Carter USM got a bad rap (or that style of music did). I never understood why. I also enjoyed the fact that here in (not Gutterpressville but might as well be) Arizona, they got pretty decent airplay with the 30-Something album. Ah, the memories.