专辑简介

by Stewart Mason

C86 Plus is an expanded CD version of the BMX Bandits' previously vinyl-only 1989 release, C86. (C86 was the name of a promotional cassette that came with a copy of New Musical Express, and featured a batch of new indie guitar bands; it eventually became the unofficial name of an entire subgenre of artless British guitar pop). The BMX Bandits submitted a song for inclusion on the tape, but were rejected; the song "C86" is their tongue-in-cheek response. Their first album after several years of cultishly adored indie singles, this is an enjoyably all-over-the-place collection of semi-naïve three-chord pop songs that veer from sublimely catchy (the cod bossa nova acoustic trifle "Rimbaud and Me" is a highlight) to Jonathan Richman-like minimalism to near-incompetent bashing -- even a 1969 home recording by a pre-teen Duglas T. Stewart! The lineup is similarly casual, kicking off with "Disco Girl (1)," a scattershot home demo by a friend who isn't even in the band! This lineup of the ever-changing group features the stalwart Stewart, the group's only constant member, surrounded by future Scottish indie all-stars like Norman Blake and Francis Macdonald of Teenage Fanclub, Gordon Keen of Eugenius, and Joe McAlinden of Superstar. This is an essential release for fans of this school of indie pop.