Radio Sessions (BBC 1996-2011) (Radio Sessions 1996-2011)

Album review

Getting to record a Peel Session was a badge of honor for any band, as it served as official acknowledgment that the most important figure on the indie scene felt you were either up and coming or had just arrived. Comet Gain were the recipients of three invites: their early lineup did two in 1996, and the second lineup went in late 1997 for a session that aired in 1998. Once John Peel sadly moved on, a session on Marc Riley's radio show was almost as important. The band appeared on his show in 2011. Tapete Records has done Comet Gain fans the favor of releasing all the sets in one shiny package aptly titled Radio Sessions BBC 1996-2011 that comes with some true treasures for the dedicated, namely tracks from the band's long-lost second album. A handful of them show up here and sound great, though they do make clear just how jagged the split between David Christian's ripping punk attitude and the rest of the band's gleefully poppy approach had become. Contrasting the brutal sound of "Chain Smoking" and the sultry meander of "I Can't Believe" makes it sound like two very different bands had been double-booked for the session. Other treats from the CG MK I sessions include a barnstorming version of one of their best songs, "Say Yes"; "Strip Poker," a Sarah Bleach-sung track that presages the sound of Velocette's pristine pop; and the rambling folk-rock ballad "Love and Hate on the Radio." The MK II Peel session is ragged and exciting, the work of a band that sounds like they are holding nothing back and free to make all the racket they want. It's all one highway stop past exciting, and if these songs had been extracted and made into an EP, they would have been one of the finest releases in the band's career. The 2011 session is nice to hear, if not as vital. Partly that's down to the drop in production values; it's hard to compare other radio sessions to Peel Sessions in that regard. The band sound in fine fettle though, ripping through a selection of tracks from their concurrent Howl of the Lonely Crowd album. The take of the record's highlights "Thee Ecstatic Library" is especially invigorating, and the update of Tigertown Pictures' "Saturday Night Facts of Life" is very nice. Taken all together, this is a vital document, and Tapete deserve all the flowers for making it available to fans of the band as well anyone who wants a starter pack of the group's music stripped down to its most important elements.

© Tim Sendra /TiVo