Glaxo Babies

A somewhat ramshackle collection of songs drawn from Glaxo Babies' original, and possibly superior incarnation -- ten songs drawn from the band's debut EP This Is Your Life, and the session for what would have been their debut album, had frontman Rob Chapman not been jettisoned midway through. And it has to be said that, when lined up alongside Nine Months To The Disco, Put Me On The Guest List is the stronger offering, song for song. The difference was, as Tony Wrafter pointed out, the band weren't into songs any longer.



Cast firmly in a mould that would now be compared to Gang Of Four, if they weren't so precious, the likes of "This Is Your Life", the frenetic "Police State" and "Who Killed Bruce Lee" are effortlessly danceable, twitchy, itching numbers that hang around for just the right amount of time, and then make way for the next convoluted stomp. The smoothly-flowing "Avoiding The Issue", meanwhile, packs one of the most contagious choruses of the age -- "can I leave the table, mummy?," and really should have been out as a single.



The absence of what was then the band's best-known number, "Christine Keeler", does somewhat defuse the album's attempts to turn the historical clock back. But still, anybody mourning the death of this most dramatic incarnation of the magical Glaxos wasn't going to allow that to stand in the way of what ranked among the most eagerly awaited albums of the year. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide