Woke Up Sticky…Plus

First published January 2008

Peter Perrett In The One

The recent re-release of The One’s only CD on Edsel provides a timely opportunity to consider What Peter Did in the twenty-six year hiatus between his twin spells at the helm of the Only Ones. Originally released by Demon in 1996 I remember reviewing the original eleven track collection as “OK but…” and then promptly filing and forgetting. I felt that the sound achieved by producer Marc Waterman failed to reflect the bands live excellence and offered little progress over the thin and unsympathetic mix of the preceding Cultured Palate EP.

I don’t know what’s happened in the last eleven years but I wish for my original judgement to be rescinded. Maybe the CD has been remastered, maybe my brain has been remastered but This Is A Very Good Record and I now think that Waterman has done a fine job in framing Peter Perrett’s sometimes wayward vocals and highlighting his songwriting strength. Certain tracks – Nothing Worth Doing, Falling, The Shame Of Being You and Shivers – are first rate, and there is merit in virtually everything here except possibly Land Of The Free and I’m Not Like Everybody Else. The latter is a great choice but thrown away as a thrash (it could stand as Peter Perrett’s theme tune). In general it is the uptempo tracks which fare better, promoting the bands strengths – a robust rhythm section, sympathetic and understated keyboards and effective lead guitar from Jay Price, most noticeable on the feedback solo in Shivers. Clearly Perrett is only happy working with lead guitarists whose initials are JP! Jay doesn’t match his predecessor John Perry here, but JP1 is a hard act to follow. A Perrett and Perry demo exists of Shame of Being You which permits a direct comparison – Price is tasteful but Perry is the more fluid.

Edsel have sensibly added the three extra tracks from the Woke Up Sticky EP, of which Transfixed and Dead Love Syndrome are worthy additions. Informative sleevenotes from Demon Press Officer Alan Robinson mean this is a worthy addition to the Perrett canon. I for one would be happy to see some of these songs playing a part in the Only Ones forthcoming live dates – we shall see…