Wednesday 15 March 2017

The Shrubs ‎– "Take Me Aside For A Midnight Harangue" (Ron Johnson Records ‎– ZRON 23) 1987


What did I say about not allowing The Shrubs to do an LP?....this would have made three great EP's.
The Beefheart Influence looms large, leaning towards an amphetamine fueled Magic Band 'Shiny Beast" era. Morris-Teper rather than Horn Rollo; but whereas the good Captain took a break from the manic-ness  with the occasional poem,field recording, or calm instrumental. The Shrubs are in top gear for nigh on the full 13 Tracks, only ending with a calming Peon-esque instrumental.
However, the music is fantastic; the guitar interplay is worthy of The Magic Band itself, filtered through a very English psyche! There can be no higher compliment than that.

Tracklist:

A1 Mysterious Places 2:58
A2 Luke 2:20
A3 Fashion Show 3:33
A4 Middle Men 3:52
A5 Claykiln Mouth 3:35
A6 Blackmailer's Heartache 3:11
A7 Rivers Of Toads Flow Forever 3:24
B1 Sinister Missions 3:06
B2 John Corpse 3:57
B3 Hail Chauffeurs 4:28
B4 Serial Revelry 2:42
B5 Farmers 4:45
B6 Edith 4:04
B7 Albert Ross 0:54

at

12 comments:

  1. GRK.15 March 2017 at 23:14

    Thanks for all the Shrubbery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. badgerstump16 March 2017 at 20:33

    I bought this and Full Steam when they came out. Made me dig the vinyl out again ...

    Shiny Beast and Bat Chain reminded a generation of young upstarts that they needed to listen to The Captain.

    great band ... great singer ... great posts

    (one of those maybe booby-trapped)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Scraps27 August 2018 at 07:45

    You probably don't like it, but: do you have Vessels of the Heart?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jonny Zchivago27 August 2018 at 08:10

    Hi Scraps,...yes I do have Vessels of the Heart......and I do like it nowadays.....i'll upload it for you when i get back off my Holidays.....you may have to remind me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Scraps27 August 2018 at 08:13

    Well thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Scraps19 June 2019 at 05:31


    hi: Here is your reminder (very late; I forgot) for Vessels of the Heart.

    If you already uploaded it, and I missed it, sorry!

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jonny Zchivago19 June 2019 at 11:03

    Just uploading it now...will paste link here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jonny Zchivago19 June 2019 at 11:16

    Here you go, hurry up before it disappears:

    https://www86.zippyshare.com/v/TpMNLFu5/file.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Scraps20 June 2019 at 01:28


    Thank you very much; I'm downloading it now.

    I'm very grateful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jonathan5 February 2021 at 14:09

    Enjoying this one a lot more. Nick Hobbs isn't quite as annoying somehow.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jonathan5 February 2021 at 14:46

    Okay, scratch that. He gets worse as it goes on. I'm now back at the "please shut up" stage.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous19 May 2021 at 21:31

    Peel once played a Shrubs track and said something like "I like the Shrubs but when the singer doesn't know what to do he just shrieks". I adore all their stuff, and have close ties to the band, but I know what you mean, Jonathan.

    ReplyDelete