Adverts, The - Cast of Thousands [IMPORT] - New LP

Bands can do whatever fuck they want to do.  if I don't enjoy it, who fucking cares.  It's not my music: it's theirs.  if the band's new sound makes people mad, that just makes me more happy, even if I didn't like the music.  nobody ever said "more tubular bells"...except TV Smith. good job, buddy.  -- winch

"Seemingly typecast by the very title of the their wryly observed debut single, One Chord Wonders, The Adverts would take two and a half years to follow up their first album, Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts. Yet the result stands only second to The Clash's London Calling in terms of illustrating just how adventurous punk rock could get. Indicating their ambivalence toward punk orthodoxy, TV Smith, Gaye Advert and co hired producer Tom Newman, who'd helmed Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. As if that wasn't controversial enough, the road-weary band repaired to the plush, un-punk surroundings of Manor Studios (the UK's first residential studios, then owned by Richard Branson) to begin recording. The result was staggeringly bold and confirmed TV Smith as one of the finest tunesmiths of the new wave."

"The opening title track saw sweeping orchestral arrangements welded to the band's pop-punk sensibilities. Smith described the song as "intended to spoof The Adverts image: the little amateurish punk band - now with added grandiose piano, massed choirs and wild synthesizer!" And while The Adverts only had the dough to record four songs at The Manor, that wasn't their only indulgence (Television's Over actually included tubular bells). Mercilessly slammed by fans and critics upon its release in October 1979, the failure of Cast Of Thousands sped the demise of The Adverts (lawsuits from ex-members and the electrocution of manager Mike Dempsey didn't help) and they'd played their last show, at unglamorous Slough College, before the month was out. Today, however, the album sounds as fresh as anything recorded by The Libertines or Graham Coxon and remains a bold and beautifully frayed statement of intent." -- Phil Alexander

"Bangs alive, it sounds incredible: articulate, melodic, sarcastic, nasty, challenging, full of fire and vigour and saliva and that killer drum sound. Way too smart for its good, of course. As I mentioned here, TV Smith was totally '77's most underrated lyricist. (I heard a solo album of his a couple of years back and he still sounds super-fine.) Like many, I never fully appreciated The Adverts at the time, beyond the killer run of singles - it took me over a decade to catch up, and I'm catching up still. Would I be incorrect to thinking they were more akin to Television or Voidoids or Subway Sect then most of their two-chord peers? (Not that there was anything wrong with being a two-chord peer.) The music press of the day loved them because bassist Gaye Advert wore a school tie and a leather jacket. It still strikes me as an odd reason" - Everett True 

"Originally released to a fan base and music press that were unprepared for the band to move on from the punk fury of Crossing The Red Sea, The Adverts Cast Of Thousands has since been recognized as a lost classic of the time. TV Smith’s cutting observational lyrics and sharp musical instincts saw his song writing grow and move in unexpected directions. The primal thumping was replaced by dynamic and driving drumming, acoustic guitars and probing solos emerged, and Tim Cross joined to add keyboards and fill out the overall sound. The one constant was the pounding throb of Gaye Advert’s bass. Encouraged to experiment by surprise producer Tom Newman (Mike Oldfield “Tubular Bells”) the band found themselves stretching creatively, both in songwriting and recording techniques. They might agonize over the sound of recording a match being lit in the middle of one song, while doing a single take of a vocal via a microphone hung in the bathroom for another. Giant choirs were built meticulously over multiple tracks, while the sound of a rat running through the reverb room would be captured forever. The results wrapped some of TV’s best songs in strange and inventive sounds to compliment his anti-pop smarts and rock and roll heart."