Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (Demo) / Talking To Clarry (Demo) /

Carnt Be Trusted / Slight Return (From Ltd Ed UK/Japan 7") / No 11 (Bluetonic) (From Fierce Panda Return To Splendour EP) / The Fountainhead (Demo) / Time And Again (Demo) / Cut Some Rug (Homemade 4-Track Recording) / Talking To Clarry (Homemade 8-Track Recording) / Are You Blue Or Are You Blind? (Homemade 8-Track Recording)

COOKING VINYL

Collecting together various demo recordings of the bands earliest material, THE EARLY GARAGE YEARS finds UK indie poppers The Bluetones at their rawest.

Obviously pitched towards the more diehard fan, THE EARLY GARAGE YEARS is more an intriguing peek at the bands earliest days rather than anything approaching the essential.  Songs like SLIGHT RETURN and ARE YOU BLUE OR ARE YOU BLIND? are presented in stripped back and raw form, the band sounding exposed and a little undernourished without their usual studio sheen.  It's a little hard to get very enthused or excited by the songs on offer here, the tracks hardly deviating wildly from the versions already out there; its basically a case of the same songs, just a lot more badly recorded for much of the record.

The odd moment does stand out and grab you though, CARNT BE TRUSTED emerges as a cut above, the songs winning melodies and none more indie guitar sounds reminding you as to The Bluetones pop genius.  Likewise CUT SOME RUG and NO. 11 (BLUETONIC) are prime examples of the bands charm and winning way with a chorus, songs that certainly stand the test of time.

THE EARLY GARAGE YEARS is ultimately too much of a mixed bag to really shine though, a collection of badly recorded demos and 4 track recordings that'll only really appeal to the diehard fan.

BIOGRAPHY

The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1994. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2001. 

The band's biggest hit, "Slight Return", was released in 1995 and re-released the following year. They achieved eight Top 20 UK chart placings in total and retain a loyal fanbase. 

The band's commercial success has continued since the fall of the Britpop movement - they have continued to tour and release new records and are therefore often labelled as "Britpop survivors". 

After the release of two singles on Fierce Panda Records, they released Expecting to Fly on the Superior Quality Recordings label. The album (one of only a few debut albums to enter the charts at number one) featured the singles "Bluetonic" and "Slight Return", with the latter being beaten to number one by Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman". Following the touring and promotional duties for Expecting to Fly, the band released a standalone single, "Marblehead Johnson", as a bridge gap between albums. 

The second album, Return To The Last Chance Saloon, was released in 1998 and possessed a decidedly Mexican flavour. It spawned hits in the form of "Solomon Bites The Worm" and "If..." and remains a favourite amongst fans. 

Whilst many of their mid-'90s peers had disbanded by 2000, The Bluetones released their third album, Science & Nature, which again reached the Top 10 and featured the hit singles "Keep The Home Fires Burning" and "Autophilia". 

After releasing a best-of album in 2002, the band followed up with Luxembourg, somewhat stylistically spikier and less jangly than previous efforts and highly influenced by the bands of the day, such as The Strokes. After signing a three-album deal with the Cooking Vinyl record label in late 2005, a comprehensive boxset of all singles and B-sides, A Rough Outline, was issued in early 2006 by Universal. 

A new single, entitled "My Neighbour's House", was released in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2006. The single is taken from their self-titled album, which was released on October 9, 2006. The album was also released in the United States, the first such occurrence since their debut. 

On November 1, 2006, the band began a month-long tour of Europe in support of their new release, including two sold-out nights at Glasgow's King Tuts. 

The band have built a strong live following over the years, and remain upbeat about their music and their career. In a December 2006 interview with stv music, Mark Morriss said of the Cooking Vinyl deal that it felt like "the start of a new era" for the band, which was partly the reason behind self-titling the album. 

LINE UP

Mark Morriss

Adam Devlin

Scott Morriss

Eds Chesters

Richard Payne

DISCOGRAPHY

EXPECTING TO FLY

Talking To Clarry

Bluetonic

Cut Some Rug

Things Change

The Fountainhead

Carnt Be Trusted

Slight Return

Putting Out Fires

Vampire

A Parting Gesture

Time & Again

LUXEMBOURG

Here It Comes Again

Fast Boy

Liquid Lips

You're No Fun Anymore

Big Problem

I Love the City

Never Going Nowhere

Little Bear

Code Blue

Turn It Up

RETURN TO THE LAST CHANCE SALOON

Tone Blooze

Unpainted Arizona

Solomon Bites the Worm

U.T.A.

4-Day Weekend

Sleazy Bed Track

If...

The Jub-Jub Bird

Sky Will Fall

Ames

Down at the Reservoir

Heard You Were Dead

Broken Starr

A Woman Done Gone Left Me

A ROUGH OUTLINE

Disc 1: The Singles

Are You Blue or Are You Blind?

Bluetonic

Slight Return

Cut Some Rug

Castle Rock

Marblehead Johnson

Solomon Bites the Worm

If...

"Sleazy Bed Track

4-Day Weekend

Keep the Home Fires Burning

Autophilia (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) 

Mudslide

After Hours

Fast Boy

Liquid Lips

Never Going Nowhere

Disc 2: The B-Sides

String Along

Colorado Beetle

Nae Hair On't

The Devil Behind My Smile

Nifkin's Bridge

The Simple Things

I Was a Teenage Jesus

I Walked All Night

Blue Shadows

Blue

Pretty Ballerina

Armageddon (Outta Here)

The Favourite Son

Be Careful What You Dream

Vostok of Love

Zero Tolerance

Keep the Home Fires Burning

Fock Da Brain Hole

Groovy Roussos

Reverse Cow Girl

Suffer in Silence

Pram Face

Disc 3: More B-Sides (Limited Edition release only)

Driftwood

Glad To See Y'Back Again?

Don't Stand Me Down

The Watchman

The Ballad of Muldoon

Mr. Soul

Please Stop Talking

Thought You'd Be Taller

It's a Boy

Soup du Jour

Mudslide" (Shandy Weather version)

Sail on Sailor

Woman in Love

Ingimarsson

Move Closer

Beat on the Beat

Choogie Monbassa

Persuasion

Freeze Dried Pop (Dumb it Up)

The Bluetones Big Score

That's Life

SCIENCE & NATURE

Zorrro

The Last of the Great Navigators

Tiger Lily

Mudslide

One Speed Gearbox

Blood Bubble

Autophillia (Ow How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Car) 

Keep the Home Fires Burning

The Basement Song

Slack Jaw

Emily's Pine

It's a Boy

2006

Surrender"

Baby Back Up"

Hope and Jump"

Head on a Spike"

King of Outer Space"

Thank You Not Today"

My Neighbour's House"

Fade In/Fade Out"

Last Song But One"

Wasn't I Right About You"

THE SINGLES

Are You Blue or Are You Blind?

Bluetonic

Slight Return

Cut Some Rug

Marblehead Johnson

Solomon Bites the Worm

If...

Sleazy Bed Track

4-Day Weekend

Keep the Home Fires Burning

Autophilia or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car

Mudslide

After Hours

Freeze Dried Pop (Dumb It Up)

Persuasion

The Bluetones Big Score

BBC RADIO SESSIONS

Slight Return (BBC John Peel Session 1994)

Talking To Clarry (BBC John Peel Session 1994)

Glad To See Y' Back Again? (BBC Evening Session 1995)

String Along (BBC Evening Session 1995)

Castle Rock (BBC John Peel Session 1996)

Vampire (BBC John Peel Session 1996)

If... (BBC Evening Session 1998)

Sleazy Bed Track (BBC Evening Session 1998)

Solomon Bites The Worm (BBC Evening Session 1998)

The Basement Song (BBC Evening Session 2000)

The Last Of The Great Navigators (BBC Evening Session 2000)

I'm Over And I Know It (BBC Evening Session 2000)

Slack Jaw (BBC Evening Session 2000)

THE EARLY GARAGE YEARS (Cooking Vinyl>2007)

Slight Return

Talking to Clarry

Good to See Y'back Again

Stiring Along

Castle Rock

Vampire

If...

Sleazy Bed Track

Solomon Bites the Worm

Basement Song

Last of the Great Navigators

I'm Over and I Know It

Slack Jaw

LINKS

The Bluetones>www.thebluetones.info

FURTHER LISTENING

Blur

Pulp

The Smiths