The Seahorses – Do It Yourself (1997)

This is an album I picked up for less than a quid at a boot fair, although I suspect I could have had it for a quid at any time in the last 20 years, such is its frequent appearance in the charity shops.

The Seahorses were a short lived band, formed by guitarist John Squire, after the Stone Roses split, with a group of hitherto unknown musicians, mostly from York.

The feeling from a distance seems to be that the band rode their luck on John Squire's reputation, with the album reaching No 2 in the UK charts, and getting support slots with Rolling Stones, U2 and Oasis.

Personally, I think that's a bit harsh. While there's nothing groundbreaking here, it's an album of listenable songs, with many sixties rock influences - to these ears, there's the Monkees, Hollies and Beatles sounds within the songs, in contrast to the more Byrdsian sound of Stone Roses.

The album kicks off with two songs by the band's vocalist Chris Helme, both a decent listen, before John Squire's songs take over. My standouts among these are Suicide Drive, Happiness Is Egg Shaped, the Liam Gallagher co-write Love Me And Leave Me, and Round The Universe (Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of Last Train To Clarksville might like a word).

My one puzzlement, is that this is an album which doesn't seem to get better with listening - rather it gets the attention straight away, but repeated listening doesn't seem to offer more. Nevertheless, it's a decent collection of songs.

Link to album tracks

3* - an enjoyable, if forgettable listen