The Sinclairs
The Sinclairs are a new band who claim to be hellbent on making easy listening much more difficult. Their drummer is Rat Scabies, was of course, a founding member of punk legends The Damned. The Sinclairs guitarist, Billy Shinbone used to be known as Jesse Budd. For 10 years Budd sang and wrote great psychedelic pop songs for the band Flipron. Of all the collaborations Nev Staple was involved with (post Specials and Fun Boy 3), the single, The Comet Returns, which he recorded with Flipron, remains my personal favorite. The Sinclair's ten track debut album is called, Sparkle its opener, La Venta , brings the late Dick Dale to mind, benefits from some eerie moog stuff courtesy of guest keyboardist Andy Taylor. Sewers of Carcassonne begins like some lost track on The Cramps first album when Alex Chilton was in the producer's chair. The track then transforms into what would have been a perfect soundtrack to a 60s detective show. The kind of thing John Barry would have been proud to have put his name to. Dodgems seems like a great excuse for Mr Scabies to show off and pound away. He leaves us in no doubt there's still a lot of life left in the old Rat. Track 5: Halfway Round Your Dreams is dreamy, charming and a good choice for the single. Billy Shinbone perfectly captures the magic of 60s guitar heroes of Duane Eddy and James Burton. It's easy to imagine this track on a soundtrack to a David Lynch movie. I found myself playing it over and over again. The album ends with Quantum Cavalcade which is Punky spaghetti western music and also the sound of two cowboy heroes bidding us a fond farewell as they ride off into the distance. All of the tracks on this Road Trip movie album have something special about them but at times I wanted to hear some vocals. I would love The Sinclairs to invite Nev Staple to guest on their follow up. Sparkle feels like the beginning of a great adventure.
The album is released on 08/05/20 on Cleopatra Records.
Photo of The Sinclairs by Jason Bridges.
Limited edition translucent red vinyl, CD & download.
Pre order: https://cleorecs.com/store/?s=the+sinclairs&post_type=product
