The Charlatans (1995 album)

The Charlatans released their third studio album Up to Our Hips in March 1994 through Beggars Banquet Records.[1] It came out around the time that the Britpop and lad culture scenes began emerging.[2][3] Up to Our Hips charted within the top 10 album charts in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. Two of its singles, namely "Can't Get Out of Bed" and "I Never Want an Easy Life If Me and He Were Ever to Get There" reached the top in the UK Singles Chart.[4] The band promoted the album with a tour of the United States, festivals in Brussels and the Netherlands, and a few UK shows with Gene.[5][6] Further touring engagements were cancelled due to a cyst growing on bassist Martin Blunt's buttocks; the band subsequently took a break for a few weeks.[7]

While on a week-long holiday in Costa del Sol in Spain with their respective girlfriends, vocalist Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins began a songwriting partnership.[8] They had previously collaborated together the year before, writing "Another Rider Up in Flames" for Up to Our Hips.[9] They mapped out what ideas they had, with Collins saying that they wanted to avoid including "any downers on the [next] album".[8][10] Upon returning to the UK, Collins would spend time at Burgess' residence in Chalk Farm, taking to sleeping on his floor.[10][11] The pair would compose songs with a guitar and a drum machine, recording the proceedings on an four-track recorder. Collins said they purposely challenged themselves to write eight songs a week, eventually accumulating 30 songs in total.[10]

At the suggestion of Steve Hillage, the Charlatans went to record at Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.[12][13] Hillage was enlisted to produce the album, having previously worked on Up to Our Hips, despite being annoyed that Burgess had disregarded that album as "bollocks".[14][15][16] "Crashin' In" was among the first four songs recording during the sessions, being started and completed within a single weekend.[17] Between midnight and 4AM, the band would sit around and listen to music that one of them enjoyed; author Dominic Wills in his book The Charlatans: The Authorised History (1999) said "each member had an ulterior motive: by bombarding the others with their own personal favourites, they could surreptitiously alter the sound of the tracks the band were presently recording". Blunt soon became aware of Burgess and Collins' fixation on country and western music that was shifting the songs away from the funk-orientated grooves and mod sound that he preferred. Several arguments rose from this, with Blunt refusing to conceded until they settled on a resolve that he liked. Burgess explained the situation as: "You come up with something that's fairly straight and then Martin puts his bit in and completely removes it".[13] Collins also pushed American folk and rock songs onto the rest of the band.[18]

Before Christmas 1994, Hillage made various mixes of the album for the band to listen to.[19] They were not satisfied with the proceedings, and learned that Hillage had been occupied with other recording jobs, which left them feeling annoyed that he was not committing his attention to them.[14] They promptly fired Hillage, much to the chagrin of Burgess, who had hoped to facilitate a long-term working partnership with him after having issues trusting anyone when making their second studio album Between 10th and 11th.[19] Collins said their label proposed that the band should produce themselves, to which he remarked, "I'm not sure if that's them being stingy bastards or whether they have total faith in us".[20] Blunt, on the other hand, was confident about the proposal, having learned about technology from Flood when making Between 10th and 11th.[21]

Engineer Dave Charles was selected instead, receiving high praise from Collins.[20] They recorded the backing track to "Here Comes a Soul Saver" at The Coach House room at the nearby Rockfield Studios, which had been made over three takes and switched together from the best two of those.[22] They attempted to mix the album at The Strongroom in London, between 12 and 25 January 1995, but were not happy with the results, at the cost of £15,000. They went back to Monnow Valley, where they spent two weeks, before moving to Rockfield Studios and eventually returning to Monnow Valley, finishing mixing in early March 1995.[21] Hillage is credited as a producer, alongside the band and Charles, for the majority of the tracks, save for "Here Comes a Soul Saver", "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over", "Tell Everyone" and "Thank You", which were produced by the band and Charles. Hillage received sole producing credit on "Crashin' In". Charles mixed and edited all of the songs; the band helped co-mix "Crashin' In".[23]

In November 1994, Burgess attended a club night hosted by Heavenly Recordings, where he came across co-founders Jeff Barrett and Martin Kelly. Kelly was surprised that "Can't Get Out of Bed", a track from Up to Our Hips had not been a bigger success, and was also astonished by the lack of press for Up to Our Hips.[43] Up to this point, the band's PR had been handled by Savage and Best, a popular agency around the UK. After asking what that company was charging, Kelly proceeded to tell Burgess that he should let him and Barrett do their future PR, which he was offering for half the price of Savage and Best. After clearing it with the band's manager Steve Harrison and Martin Mills of Beggars Banquet Records, Heavenly became their PR agency.[17] "Crashin' In" was released as the lead single from the album on 28 December 1994, having been held back from its intended Boxing Day date due to that being a bank holiday.[44][19] It included "Back Room Window" and "Green Flashing Eyes" as its B-sides.[45] The music video for "Crashin' In" was filmed at Monnow Valley and features the studio's cat Charlie.[19][46]

Blunt, Charles and Rob Collins travelled to Metropolis Studio in London in March 1995 to master "Bullet Comes", which had been earmarked as the next single. Three days after this, it was decided to couple "Bullet Comes" with "Just Lookin'" as a double A-side single. Following the conclusion of mixing, the band spent sometime rehearsal for their upcoming touring schedule.[21] They embarked on a tour of the UK in April 1995, with support from the Rainkings and the Bluetones; the following month, "Just Lookin'" and "Bullet Comes" were released as the joint second single on 8 May 1995.[21][44][47] "Floor Nine" was included as its B-side.[48] Beggars Banquet were not fond of releasing it and "Crashin' In" so far out from the album, while Burgess said the band "knew better – we were really getting back the confidence and belief we had in the first place".[19] The music video for "Just Lookin'" was filmed outside the GLC building, close to the River Thames.[49]

The band made six festivals appearances over the subsequent four months, including Glastonbury, Brighton, Phoenix and T in the Park in the UK, Benicàssim in Spain, and Waterfestival Stockholm.[50] "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" was released as the album's final single on 7 August 1995.[44] The music video, which was directed by Lindy Heymann, sees the band were gangster clothing, influenced by the film Performance (1970).[51][52] The CD version included "Frinck", "Your Skies Are Mine" and a remix of "Toothache" as the B-sides, while the 12-inch version swapped "Your Skies Are Mine" for a remix of "Nine Acre Court".[53][54] "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" was promoted with an appearance on Top of the Pops, and a Mark Radcliffe radio session where they performed it alongside "Crashin' In", "Just Lookin'" and "Here Comes a Soul Saver".[55][56] The Charlatans was released on 28 August 1995.[57]

Soon after this, the band embarked on a tour of the US, which was shortened due to juice manufacturer Ocean Spray pulling their sponsorship because of Collins' past criminal record.[55] The full version of the tour would have seen them perform in 1,500 to 5,000 capacity venues in cities they would not have usually played, which is where the Ocean Spray promotion would have helped.[58] They were supported by Britpop band Menswear for the trek; during this time, the Britpop movement had not conquered the US, with Pulp and Supergrass having toured the country previously, and Blur touring the same time as the Charlatans. After ten shows, the Charlatans toured mainland Europe, with a focus on Germany in particular.[59] Upon returning to the UK, they toured from November 1995 with support from Mansun, becoming their longest trek in the country.[59][60] In early 1996, they toured smaller, lesser-known places in the UK for the type of fan that would typically have to travel to see them.[61]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
Alternative Rock	8/10[69]
Entertainment Weekly	B[70]
The Guardian	[71]
NME	6/10[72]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[73]

The Charlatans was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. Erlewine saw it as The Charlatans' "most ambitious, focused, and successful album", thought it "relies too heavily on trippy dance instrumentals" at times.[26] David N. Meyer of Entertainment Weekly said it was "energetic, sincere, and a bit thin-voiced [...] the Black Crowes with hipper references".[70] NME writer Keith Cameron said the album "feels unequivocally like a statement of intent", adding that with the various influences, the band were capable of "absorbing the sensibility wholesale, while leaving the incriminating specifics alone".[72]

Wills felt that the band were "really living up to their potential of that earlier Manchester melting pot, truly and thrillingly exploring the possibilities" of their sound.[19] Robb said it was "overflowing" with confidence, being the release where they "dropped all the disguises and came out as themselves, setting the blueprint for their own totally individual sound".[74] Author Susan Wilson in her book The Charlatans – Northwich Country Boys (1997) said the album "would completely revive their career, putting them back on the map as one of Britain's best bands of the decade".[20] Carpenter said the album "remained a fan favorite, a disc you could always come back to to remind you why this band is here to stay".[24] Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), wrote that the album "continues precisely where Hips left off, only now the group's self-confidence comes into play as well."[69]

The Charlatans topped the album charts in both Scotland and the UK, and peaked at number 28 in Sweden.[4][75][76] It appeared at number 87 on the UK's year-end album chart, and was later certified gold there by the British Phonographic Industry.[77][78] "Crashin' In" charted at number 26 in Scotland and number 31 in the UK.[4][79] "Just Lookin'"/"Bullet Comes" charted at number 18 in Scotland and number 32 in the UK.[4][80] "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" charted at number five in Scotland; it became their highest-charting single in the UK since "Then" in 1990, peaking at number 12.[4][81] Wills theorised that the song would had performed better if it had not been released the same week as the chart battle between Blur and Oasis.[55] Select ranked the album at number 17 on its list of the year's best releases.[82]

All songs written by Martin Blunt, Jon Brookes, Tim Burgess, Mark Collins and Rob Collins.[23]

Personnel per booklet, except where noted.[23]

Citations

Sources

• The Charlatans at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
• Interview with Tim Burgess and Mark Collins at GaySource
• Interview with Burgess at MTV