THE BOY WHO DIDN'T CRY WOLF
or
LISTEN TO THE OTHER ONE, IT'S GOT BELLS ON.

It's an obvious and understandable response to be cynical when a band claim Scott Walker as a major influence. The great man's reputation has been sullied enough by a succession of Smart Alec ironists. When a band have the audacity to claim they are a collision of Scott Walker and Super Furry Animals in a run-down cabaret lounge in downtown Gateshead you really have to work hard to suspend your incredulity.

But here are misfit Newcastle six-piece Blue Apple Boy and they're going to suspend that disbelief off the Tyne Bridge. Which is exactly where we find the subject of the band's debut single, `Who's That Calling?' on Shifty Disco Records. Telling the true story of a man who habitually attempted to throw himself off the bridge, only to be talked down each time on his mobile phone by the police. Until the day, that is, that the poor fellow finally went the whole way, plunging to his death as his mobile emitted one last, futile ring. It's the sort of lost North-Eastern tale that fuels Blue Apple Boy's songs - from tropical turtles washed up on the Northumbrian shore to GPs who awake from extended sleepwalking sessions to find themselves miles from home, stranded on the moors. `Sunshine Valley Paradise Club', which backs the single, is based on a newspaper report about the cruelty that was endemic in a local old people's home. It features a guest guitar contribution from Ultrasound's Richard Greene, his first musical outing since that band's split. It's also got bells on it.

Blue Apple Boy came together in their native Tyneside through various chance encounters, including a collision between Vespa-riding singer Mark Dunphy and car-driving songwriter and concept freak Paul Hope on a rainy Newcastle street. The band members have variously played in a succession of no-hope indie bands, jazz collectives and cabaret acts on the working men's club circuit. Their influences are accordingly diverse, but with such a twisted pop perspective and Mark's astonishing voice, Blue Apple Boy are the strangest synth-jazz-pop-cabaret band you'll hear this year or next. So remember kids, sometimes, just sometimes, when a band starts bragging, they tell the truth.

There's a picture of sorts here.

For more info go to the official band site.

 

© 2007 Shifty Disco, Web stuff by OMN