Band : The Charlatans
Album title : Who We Touch
Label : Cooking Vinyl
Distributor : V2
Release date : 06/09/2010
Release : CD

In all honesty, my first reaction upon seeing this album was to wonder...and also to a certain degree marvel...over the fact that this British band was still around.

You see, I'd come in touch with the band (formed in 1988 by bassist Martin Blunt, keyboardist Rob Collins, guitarist John Baker, drummer Jon Brookes, and singer Baz Keller – whom was almost immediately replaced by Tim Burgess) during the mid to late '90s...which was in my memory also the band's period of highest popularity (thanks to the purchase of several secondhand CDs and EPs). In 1990 the band had first seen its debut single released through an independent label, then got signed to major label Beggars Banquet's sub-label Situation Two for the release of another single (which immediately shot up in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart) and debut album Some Friendly, when they were forced to add “UK” to their name for an American tour due to the existence of a '60s band by the same name. Obviously, this gave the band quite a bit of media attention (and it also made US copies of their albums quite recognizable) at the time, resulting in an equal amount of attention from audiences. Regretfully, the band was stopped in their initial stride when in 1992 (after the successful release of the band's sophomore album Between 10th And 11th earlier that year) the keyboardist got involved in an armed robbery perpetrated by a friend of his...and as the result of which he saw the inside of one of Her Majesty's penitentiary institutions for the period of 4 months.

Over the years the band's line-up went only through minor changes: guitarist John Baker left in 1991 to be replaced by Mark Collins. No relation to Rob...whom died in a car accident on July 22, 1996...in the midst of the recording of the band's fifth album Tellin' Stories. At first the band used a temporary replacement by drafting former Felt and then Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy for live duties. Tony Rogers made his album debut with the band on 1999's Us And Us Only, the first album on Universal, and a slightly different musical approach by the band with Country flavourings coming from the singer's idolation of Bob Dylan. 2001's follow-up Wonderland was however more Soul-oriented. Not really consistent back then, these guys! The band's 9th studio album (2006's Simpatico, which was nowrather Reggae and Dub influenced – and some dare say females are fickle, eh?) was their first and only on Sanctuary Records (the label soon went bankrupt...not due to The Charlatans, but rather due to converging circumstances of spreading their bread rather thin just before the Economic Crisis struck). The band's 10th album You Cross My Path would make sóme history, as being the first release by a UK act to be made available completely free as download from a radio station on May 3, 2008. In May, that same album was given a physical release (on both CD and vinyl LP) through Cooking Vinyl.

Whomever puts on this new CD by the band will be surprised by the ferociousness of the first 10 seconds...but luckily after that the band drops back to its normal antics...of it's '90s days, that is! Which is diverse enough. From up-tempo and guitar-driven tracks to calmer songs with (fake) strings (and partial acoustic guitar), over songs where the organ keyboards introduce a soft-psychedelic effect, the quintet's got 'em all...but of course it all remains Pop-oriented. Of course you might also call it '90s British '90s Indie Pop/ Rock, and in that context The Charlatans are one of very few remaining bands from an era that gave us a myriad of nice bands from that scene. On the band's myspace.com/thecharlatans, you'll only find the one track off the new album, and even if it comes in two versions as well as a video, that's not a lot to go on for the modern record buying music lover. For samples of all of the album's 10 regular songs (the album closing track includes two hidden bonus tracks titled “On The Threshold” and “Sing the Body Electric”, but for the life of me I couldn't tell you which is the wacky & great Country & Western/ repetitive Psychedelic flavoured spoken word – with gravely proclaimed semi-poetic text, which is almost chanted like as if by a mix of some American Reverend meets Jim Morrison...or something like that – track that was included on the download promo copy) you may wanna check out the album's page at one of the trusted online sales websites (try Amazon.com, for instance). Alternatively, you could get off your lazy computer chair and have a listening session at your local record store...or check out the band in live conditions when they come through your neck of the woods (currently touring North-America, the boys will be back in the UK in late September, in Europe for a couple of shows – including Le Botanique in Brussels on Oct. 26, and Amsterdam's Melkweg the day prior – from late October to early November, and then Australia from 10 to 15 November).

89/100

Tony.