The Pretty Things
Album: The Sweet Pretty Things (Are In Bed Now, Of Course...)
Label: Repertoire
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.theprettythings.com/

Let's face it, The Pretty Things are old, seriously old. Contemporaries of The Stones (guitarist Dick Taylor was bass player in an early pre-Bill Wyman line-up), friends of Dylan on the Don't Look Back tour of the UK in 1965 (and referenced in / referencing the lyric from "Tombstone Blues" in their new album title, some 52 years after the first bluesy shoutings from The Pretty Things), covered nostalgically by Bowie on "Pin-Ups" in 1973! 52, and still at it. Older than me, for Christ's sake! What on earth can they have to say?

Well, what they have to say is "We're still here!" And they say it very well indeed. Despite advancing years (Taylor is 72 and singer Phil May 70) this album demonstrates that May, Taylor and their collaborators (guitarist / keyboard player Frank Holland has been with them for all of 22 years, and the rhythm section of George Woosey and Jack Greenwood since the departure of their 60s equivalents in the 2000s) are still capable of putting out new material that competes with much of their earlier output, and blows some of the young pretenders clean out of the water.

Opener "The Same Sun" sets the tone, with a semi-psychedelic riff underpinning May's lyric celebrating the rock (most definitely rock) festival. "Renaissance Fair" again refers back to the band's 60s hey-day, with eerie backing vocals on May's refrain of "I think that maybe I'm dreaming". There may well be some gleeful truth in this - recording as he was within months of being at death's door must have seemed to good to be true. "You Took Me By Surprise" has a more 70s feel, with wah-wah to the fore, and again you get the feeling that the band were really enjoying playing (most of the tracks were recorded live in the studio). "Turn My Head" is a more American take on the 60s, redolent of the West Coast, and "Dark Days" features a significant amount of Mellotron (never, ever a bad thing!). The Mellotron continues on "Greenwood Tree", an instrumental which gives Taylor a chance to show his chops have been well and truly retained and which even manages to justify the presence of a (reasonably short) drum solo, as well as having echoes of early Hawkwind, whose first album Taylor produced. The country blues of "Hell, Here and Nowhere" slows things down a bit before a further atmospheric instrumental "In the South" presages the closing "Dirty Songs", the lyric for which was written just prior to recording by May. The band seems to be channelling those young whipper-snappers Led Zeppelin on this track, Greenwood's drums certainly taking a Bonham-like pounding. And if May's vocal is a bit growly, well, Robert Plant hasn't quite got the range he used to have, either, and he gets by!

All in all, a solid and remarkably enjoyable offering from a band, at least two of whom have earned the right to be sitting with their feet up. You get the feeling, though, this won't be the last we hear of them! I hope not...

Harry Thomson