{"product_id":"east-village-drop-out","title":"EAST VILLAGE - Drop Out","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\" data-mce-style=\"color: #ff0000;\" mce-data-marked=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLP - Black Vinyl with tip-on style jacket and four-page insert, designed to partner with the 2019 vinyl reissue of their singles and rarities compilation, Hot Rod Hotel. Features new, typically eloquent liner notes from writer Jon Savage.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn autumnal treasure, \u003cstrong\u003eEast Village\u003c\/strong\u003e’s \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e has spent the past thirty years finding new ears to bewitch and new hearts to melt. The only album from this British four-piece, recorded and released in the early nineties, it’s long been considered one of the hidden jewels of its time, and is talked of with hushed reverence by people who know. Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne once called it “an elegy for a particular brand of eighties guitar music, sweet minor chords and Dylanesque lyrics”, which captures what makes it so special; in summarising its era, though, it also effortlessly transcends it.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLike all great guitar gangs, East Village fell together as a four-piece; having relocated from High Wycombe to London in mid ‘80s, brothers \u003cstrong\u003eMartin\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003ePaul Kelly\u003c\/strong\u003e on bass and guitar, set on forming a group together, were joined by \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Wood\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar) and \u003cstrong\u003eSpencer Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e (drums). Wood and the Kellys shared writing and vocal duties; it was an ideal combination, and one of the many charms of East Village is their various song writing voices, a tip of the hat, seemingly, to the 60s folk-rock groups who influenced them.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOriginally influenced by garage-rock and freakbeat, the band eventually came through via the same scene as groups like Felt, The Go-Betweens, The Weather Prophets, and Primal Scream. They’d formed as \u003cstrong\u003eEpisode Four\u003c\/strong\u003e, releasing an EP, \u003cem\u003eStrike Up Matches\u003c\/em\u003e, in 1986, which has gone on to become one of most sought after releases of the C86 era. Their first two singles as \u003cstrong\u003eEast Village\u003c\/strong\u003e, ‘\u003cem\u003eCubans In The Bluefields\u003c\/em\u003e’ (1987) and ‘\u003cem\u003eBack Between Places\u003c\/em\u003e’ (1988), were released on \u003cstrong\u003eJeff Barrett\u003c\/strong\u003e’s \u003cstrong\u003eSub Aqua\u003c\/strong\u003e label.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhen it came time to record \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e, East Village found a supporter in Bob Stanley, who bankrolled the album sessions until Barrett re-signed the band to his new imprint \u003cstrong\u003eHeavenly Recordings\u003c\/strong\u003e in 1990. The album that took shape is dusky, heartfelt, lamplit, full of chiming minor chords, close harmonies, rattling organs, all buoyed by a rhythm section that moves as one, steady and elegant. There’s melancholy here, certainly, on songs like ‘\u003cem\u003eWhat Kind Of Friend Is This\u003c\/em\u003e’, but also pleasure and freedom, on ‘\u003cem\u003eWhen I Wake Tomorrow\u003c\/em\u003e’ and ‘\u003cem\u003eSilver Train\u003c\/em\u003e’. The group were obsessed with Dylan’s \u003cem\u003eEat The Document\u003c\/em\u003e at the time, and the album’s rich with references to the film; \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e’s character is also somehow close to the thin wild mercury sound of \u003cem\u003eBlonde On Blonde\u003c\/em\u003e, and the lambent light of the Byrds’ \u003cem\u003eNotorious Byrd Brothers\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn one of life’s gentler surprises, ‘\u003cem\u003eSilver Train\u003c\/em\u003e’ became an unexpected radio hit in Australia when released there as a single in 1993. The story of East Village seems marked by such unexpected turns and surprising events. None was more surprising for their fans at the time, though, than their onstage split in 1991, leaving an unreleased album in the can. Encouraged by Jeff Barrett the band revisited the tapes two years on and while mixing the album for its posthumous release in 1993 invited \u003cstrong\u003eDebsey Wykes\u003c\/strong\u003e (Dolly Mixture, Coming Up Roses, Saint Etienne, Birdie) to sing the quietly devastating album closer, “\u003cem\u003eEverybody Knows\u003c\/em\u003e”, a perfect, sad-eyed sign-off.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eListening now to \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e, its timelessness is clear. It could have been recorded by young folk-pop hopefuls in the late sixties, taking their shot at the big time; but it could just as easily have been recorded yesterday, by a group that’s both reverent to music’s past, but forward looking in spirit and temperament. It’s that kind of album. \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e’s pop poetry is fully formed, with a singular charm that takes in wistfulness, romance, and good times, and a clutch of deeply moving songs that are overflowing with melody and gracefulness. It’s pretty much everything you’d want from a guitar pop record.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIt's also an album that’s slowly accrued its own legend. From its stunning cover art, photographed by \u003cstrong\u003eJuergen Teller\u003c\/strong\u003e originally for a Katherine Hammett campaign, to the ten perfectly formed songs within, \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e’s significance in the scheme of things is such that, a decade ago, it was given a rare 10\/10 rating in \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eUncut\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e magazine, who called the album “the lost classic of its era”. \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e comes round every decade or so, each edition introducing new fans to its understated beauty, and this latest reissue is its most elegant and deluxe yet.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe 30th anniversary edition of \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e lands in two formats: an LP with tip-on style jacket and four-page insert, designed to partner with the 2019 vinyl reissue of their singles and rarities compilation, \u003cem\u003eHot Rod Hotel\u003c\/em\u003e; and a double CD, featuring an extra disc compiling the group’s early singles and alternative versions. This CD edition previously has only been available in Japan, though it now features a new, superior mix of their second single, ‘\u003cem\u003eBack Between Places\u003c\/em\u003e’. Both feature new, typically eloquent liner notes from writer Jon Savage.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe members of East Village have all gone on to do inspired things: Martin Kelly joined Jeff Barrett at \u003cstrong\u003eHeavenly\u003c\/strong\u003e and has managed label mainstays \u003cstrong\u003eSaint Etienne\u003c\/strong\u003e since 1993; Paul Kelly formed \u003cstrong\u003eBirdie\u003c\/strong\u003e with Debsey Wykes, and is now a renowned film director and graphic designer; both Paul and Spencer Smith played in Saint Etienne’s live band; John Wood moved to China to teach, and released a lovely, understated folk album, \u003cem\u003eQuiet Storm\u003c\/em\u003e, in Japan in 2006. But with the hazy perfection of \u003cem\u003eDrop Out\u003c\/em\u003e, they’ve all already etched their names in the firmament. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Heavenly Recordings","offers":[{"title":"30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition - LP - Vinyl","offer_id":47198150000985,"sku":"SDZ-10572","price":34.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/East_Village_-_DropOut_-_30th_Anniversary_Deluxe_Edition_-_2023.jpg?v=1696412449","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/east-village-drop-out","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}