Prefab Sprout – Swoon (1984)

The debut album from Witton Gilbert's finest has long been something I've been fond of. I heard it at about the same time as it's follow up, the altogether more slickly produced and successful Steve McQueen and on the whole felt more drawn to its naivety and verbosity. I haven't listened to it for years, so let's find out.

It's an enjoyable listen, with reservations. I'm finding the wordplay simultaneously engaging, annoying and impenetrable. None more so than the disjointed opener, Don't Sing, followed by Cue Fanfare, similarly obscure, but nevertheless a decent listen. The two parts of Green Isaac, are probably my lowpoints of the album, the first part being quite catchy, but the second part leaving me completely cold.

Here On The Eerie rattles along nicely, taking us to the lovely Cruel, with its lounge jazz feel, and almost understandable lyrics (what the hell is a jealous boy root!). The slow mood continues with Couldn't Bear To Be Special, full of boh-bee and boo-boo-bah-bah lyrics, the cheesiness of which bring a hint of irony to the heartfelt plea. After that we need a bit of a boost, and the upbeat I Never Play Basketball Now hits the spot perfectly, perhaps my favourite song on the album. The faux reggae of Ghost Town Blues is jolly without inspiring, although there's what sounds like a lovely tickling piano deep underneath the main theme. Elegance is far more laidback, and beautifully wordy, possibly another favourite which I'd only just realised, while despite being frankly all over the place Technique, has a friendly feel.

The wordiness does feel tongue in cheek, the disjointed songs as youthful experiment, but it strikes me as a joyously optimistic album, particularly among some of the more po-faced seriousness offered by the new romantics of the early 1980s. Of course the industry would try to beat commercial concerns into Paddy, Wendy and Martin, although not wholly successfully. While this might not be the band's finest moment, it has a freshness and naivety which the biz (and growing older) wouldn't allow them to repeat.

Link to album tracks

4* - a great album from a band just setting out, with lots of ideas, not all of them as easy on the ear as the world demanded.